Naima Black
Alicia: Hi Naima
: Hi Alicia
Alicia: It’s really a pleasure and honor to be sitting here with you, you are one of those great spirits in our communities that people don’t know about. You do a lot of work to help families improve their lives and that is why we are here today.
: Thank You.
Alicia: I met you at MOMobile on Chew Ave. and now you are in the hospital, would like to talk a little about the history of MOMobile and how you came from Chew Ave. to Episcopal hospital?
: Sure, well MOMobile has been around longer than I have been involved with the Maternity Care Coalition, which is our organization. MOMobile is the signature program. Today as we sit here there are a lot of variations of the MOMobile program around the city and some of the outlining counties. When I started with Maternity Care Coalition I took on the program manager position at the Northwest MOMobile, which is the one on Chew Ave. where you and I met. After a few years there I was offered a position to develop a new program, with a focus on North Philadelphia. The overarching goal of the funder, W.K. Kellogg was to improve children's health in this community by increasing breastfeeding rates. Particularly in low income demographics, African and Latino women.
We worked really hard to look at MOMobile models and other models. In the back of my mind and my heart, I always believed that using a community doula model was a good way to go. We formed a wide committee of people from the community, mothers, other doulas, and people from other social service agencies. Talked to them, got their ideas, and eventually developed the North Philadelphia Breast Feeding Program which uses a community dula model.
The way we ended up here (Episcopal Hospital) is because this was already the Northwest Central MOMobile office providing home services to families in this community for many many years. There was extra office space so we moved here.
Alicia: When you are at Riverside how is that program working out? I ask because when you were talking with Victoria Law (http://resistancebehindbars.org/) at your “Reproductive Justice for Incarcerated Women” conference, I heard a lot of heart breaking, and I heard a lot of great stuff. So how is that going?http://maternitycarecoalition.org/professionals/services-for-families/momobile/momobile-at-riverside/
: The Riverside program is doing really well. I don’t work there obviously because I am doing this program, we have a MOMobile at Riverside Correctional Facility and a phenomenal staff there again all of whom were trained as doula’s
.
When that program started eight years ago, it was a long process to get the funding and approval to be in the prisons having the kind of program that we offer. There was a lot of thought into what was really going to make this program important for the women themselves. At that time there weren't many women coming in being housed there through pregnancy giving birth. It’s changed, Unfortunately that’s another “Reproductive Justice for Incarcerated Women” issues in and of itself. However for women who are pregnant in the prison system they couldn’t have anyone with them when giving birth except two guards. Although the guards are not armed in the prison they are armed when they are with you in labor and delivery.
Alicia: That just makes me cringe.
: Of course, and back in those days, which was not to long ago, incarcerated women continued to be shackled when transported to any appointment outside the prison. Most of their prenatal is given at the prison,they have staff nurse and others that go in there. But for any particular needs like ultrasounds, they were shackled. Shackled during childbirth, shackled afterwards to the bed, a really barbaric practice. Which has now been abolished. First the policy was changed at the prison and now Pennsylvania state law states that you cannot shackle women in labor. Keeping people to that law is another issue. Here in Philadelphia one of the ways that is being monitored is through our doula’s. The doula’s are on site, they work with the women through their pregnancy, they do groups, they do prenatal support the same way we do our home visit here. Postpartum support to the women and their baby. Parenting skills, they help the women understand what is going to happen at the hospital and a doula is with the women at the birth. The doula’s presence with the women at birth makes a huge difference. The women get to hold their baby and the baby gets skin to skin and maybe breastfed, even if the women are only there for twenty four hours. Obviously you don’t get to take your baby back to the prison. A family member or someone designated by the women and in those unfortunate cases DHS takes the baby. But in those first twenty hour to forty eight hours they are in the hospital with their baby, we encourage mom’s to have skin to skin and breastfeed because that generates parenting instincts which aids the family in bonding. Our doula’s offer home visits to the caregiver and once the mother is released, the doula will assist the mother for a year to help with reentry issues as well.
Alicia: Thanks Naima!!
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