Tangiere Jones was a 26-year-old mom-to-be when she first heard about Mamatoto Village, a nonprofit that provides birth support for underserved women in Washington, D.C. She wanted the best outcome for the birth of her daughter but faced financial barriers as a substitute teacher who was the sole earner of her household.
Like many Black mothers, Jones was aware of the risks of “birthing while Black.” For instance, the rate of maternal mortality is more than three times as high for Black women than for White women, while the infant mortality rate for Black babies is more than twice as high as the rate for White babies.
“I had been doing a lot of research on having a natural birth, and I knew that I wanted a [labor assistant], but I also knew that I couldn’t afford to pay for one. I had Medicaid at the time, and because they accepted it, I didn’t have to pay anything out of pocket, which was a complete blessing to me,” Jones explained.
[For more on this story by A. Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez, https://www.yesmagazine.org/pe...stice-focus-20180907]
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