“Reclaiming Health and Wellness for Black Births”
In 2021, UCSF EMBRACE partnered with RAMS to expand and extend its offerings beyond UCSF to the broader community. RAMS is now working collaboratively with providers at the Southeast Health Center Clinic to pilot its first prenatal group. Through these partnerships, a greater number of pregnant people and their families will have access to this very intentional and specialized perinatal care.
EMBRACE was launched in 2018 under the leadership of Andrea Jackson, MD; Melinda Fowler, CNM; and Markita Mays, LCSW as part of the UCSF Initiative for Black Women’s Health and Liveliness and the UCSF/ZSFGH Child Trauma Research Program’s Tipping Point Mental Health Initiative. The program aimed to increase the number of Black group prenatal care participants, and to develop an accessible, healing-centered prenatal care model that identifies and addresses root causes of health disparities for Black birthing people, and supports them through the perinatal period with emphasis on autonomy and self-advocacy; ancestral and cultural wisdom; holistic healing and wellness; safe, healthy beginnings with their babies; and mindful parenting.
EMBRACE is a racially conscious and responsive integrated model of prenatal and mental health care intended to amplify the unique experiences of Black pregnant people and the health consequences of anti-Black racism, and to improve birthing outcomes among Black pregnant people in San Francisco.
The model offers race-concordant care for Black birthing people and their families during pregnancy through the first year postpartum. Participants are seen, held, and supported as they deserve, in ways that promote informed and empowered decision-making relative to pregnancy, labor and delivery, and parenting after birth. The impact of anti-Black racism, systemic inequities, and other social determinants on health and pregnancy is deliberately acknowledged and discussed. Ancestral and cultural wisdom, life-affirming practices, and a range of resources are shared and explored. Drawing on the power of “the village” to build community, participants attend prenatal groups co-facilitated by a prenatal healthcare provider (e.g., obstetrician, midwife, and/or doula) and a mental health clinician. Individual and/or family sessions with a mental health clinician are also offered to each participant for the duration of their enrollment.
For more information about the UCSF EMBRACE program and to access self and provider referral forms, visit the UCSF EMBRACE website.
