Introduction
How do policies, research and practices related to reproductive health justice impact the lives of those you serve? Kayla is a Masters in Public Health Student in the concentration of Maternal and Child Health at Brown University School of Public Health. She previously earned her Bachelor’s degree at Howard University, where she studied Human Development and Family Studies. This conversation covers her exposure to community engaged public health and her interest in addressing Black maternal health disparities.
Discovering a Calling: Growing a Knowledge Base in Reproductive Health Inequities
Over the past few years, the staggering statistics surrounding maternal health inequities faced by racial and ethnic minorities, specifically Black women, have gained traction both in and out of public health airwaves. Kayla immediately began tailoring her purpose in her career plans once she was informed on these reproductive injustices faced by Black women in her coursework. On reflecting on her introduction to maternal and child health equity, she shared;
“In 2018, While I was a sophomore at Howard, I took a class called Sociology of Death and Dying. There was one small unit of the course that talked about maternal mortality, and that was the first time I had heard about it…the statistics [for Black women] were so high to me that I was like 1.) Why have I never heard of this before? & 2.) This is a HUGE issue, and at the time it wasnt really publicized. I feel like everybody is talking about it right now, but at that time, they weren’t. So I did further research and found out it’s a public health issue, and I found out public health is a whole FIELD of careers. With how badly this impacts Black women, and myself, as a Black woman who wants to have children someday, I thought: What can I do to be a part of declining these trends?”
After this catalyst to enter the public health field, Kayla completed an internship with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, which provided her with essential exposures to community engagement. At this internship, she worked to address food insecurity in partnership with local food banks by sharing resources for fresh foods with patients at area health centers. “It wasn’t directly related to maternal health…” she says, “but It was my first exposure to public health. I really kind of learned what I liked, you know? Speaking to people and community engagement.” This first opportunity opened up the doors for Kayla to an abundance of informative internship experiences more relevant in maternal and child health, starting with her time at Chicago Birthworks Collective, which is a full-circle doula services organization. Here, Kayla virtually assisted in organizing a supplies drop-off for expectant mothers during the pandemic. After this internship, Kayla was hired full time with the collective as a Family Care Coordinator. On that experience, she shared
“I started talking to moms who were looking for a doula. As part of our intake call, we had to ask prospective clients, “Why do you want a doula?”, and 95% of them were like ‘I’m just looking at the statistics, I’m seeing what’s in the news, and I’m scared. I want somebody in there with me that can assist me– I want to feel like I’m supported more’ So that also gave me the second exposure of how Black women giving birth are feeling as they’re seeing all of these things from the CDC saying Black women are 2 to 3 times more likely to die from childbirth. For someone that wants to have a healthy baby, you know– that’s scary.”
After graduating from Howard, Kayla was originally planning to take a gap year to continue gaining experience in the field. However, through the encouragement of a faculty mentor, she ended up applying to the MPH program at the Brown University School of Public Health. Her amazing achievements spoke loud and clear, as she was accepted as a fully-funded Health Equity Scholar!
(Related: Check out this Emerging Changemaker post with Kamali)
Visions for the Future of Black Women’s Maternal Health
Currently closing out the final year of her MPH program, Kayla is still always engaged in exciting opportunities related to her interests in dismantling reproductive health inequities. The summer before relocating to Providence, Kayla participated in the prestigious Advancing Health Equity and Diversity summer research program at Stanford University, where she gained critical skills in literature reviews relevant to female-predominant disease and the impact of incentives on physician participation in research surveys. The following summer, she participated in an internship at Black Women’s Health Imperative for both their Change Your Lifestyle, Change Your Life (CYL2) Program and NOURISH Doula Training program for HBCU students. We were both so delighted to learn we were both interning at BWHI at the same time–we were in different departments, but working on similar projects! We bonded over the family atmosphere at BWHI and the unique roles that we both played in the rollout of their incredible doula training programs. Currently working as a Research Assistant on a maternal health related project at Tufts University, Kayla had a few tips to share for upcoming health equity researchers;
Self Leadership: Sometimes the hardest part about getting through tough academic times is reaching out for help. Kayla shares, “if you ever feel yourself slipping, or you have a question about something–get on it early. Make sure that you reach out for help early because support is there, and people are willing to help. But, you have to take initiative and ask.”
Leverage Digital Connections: Social media can have its downsides, but in health equity journeys, it can be a beacon of important information. Kayla’s current assistantship at Tufts began with a connection on Linkedin with who is now her supervisor–I had a similar experience with many of my current roles (including my role here at TPHM, lol!). Kayla and I also both realized that we’re both in a Facebook group called Black Ladies in Public Health, which has up-to-date postings on opportunities, meet-ups, events, and other resources in the field. “I would suggest all students, even if you’re not a student and you’re just interested, to be in that group. Everything that there is to know is in that group.”
I was super excited to hear more about what Kayla’s end-goals are regarding the mark she hopes to leave in the world in the realm of maternal and child health equity. She shared, “I have a broad interest in pursuing a career in maternal and child health and through my experiences I have learned that there is a gap in quality maternal healthcare and it is a systemic issue. I enjoy connecting people with services and resources that can help them navigate the healthcare system and I’m not exactly sure what that job title is, but I want to be a part of helping agencies and organizations integrate care that is equitable for their clients. Essentially, I want to help bridge the gap in quality maternal healthcare for Black birthing people in America as well as ensure that all birthing people have access to an empowering birth experience.”
HUGE thank you again to Kayla for this wonderful conversation! It was so awesome to learn about all we had in common, and I know that she will do amazing things as a trailblazer for reproductive justice! 😊
Connect with Kayla on LinkedIn, and share this with a student interested in health equity work!
