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It doesn’t matter how educated we are–studies have shown that college educated Black women are more likely to suffer pregnancy and birth related complications than white women with less than a full high school education. To change the trajectory of Black women’s maternal and reproductive health, the Black Mamas Matter Alliance created Black Maternal Health Week in 2018. From April 11-17, the Black Mamas Matter Alliance and mothers across the country will share stories like Shalon’s to amplify and promote maternal health, rights, and justice. This Black Maternal Health Week, I’m proud to join the Black Mamas Matter Alliance and Black women across the country to promote maternal rights for Black mothers.

But even after delivery, your health and fitness are important–especially if you’re a black mom. We’re three times more likely to die from asthma, develop high blood pressure earlier in life, and are four times more likely to die from stroke. According to the CDC, black mothers die at three to four times the rate of white mothers. To educate and raise awareness of the health issues that affect black women and encourage an active lifestyle, April has been recognized as National African-American Women’s Fitness Month.

Each morning, Janelle and Julie have woken up at 5:30 to get ready for the day, preparing breakfast for the kids and making sure book bags are packed with a healthy lunch and snack. Single Parent Day was established in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, asking Americans to “recognize the contributions single parents are making, sometimes under great hardships, to the lives of their children. Calling yourself a single parent takes away from the people who actually are single parents–the ones who have to make all the decisions, handle all the discipline, and worry if they’re doing this thing right, by themselves. You’re not a single parent if his flight gets in at six.

If left untreated, gestational diabetes can result in premature birth, high blood pressure, and c-sections because of larger babies. I became a health coach because I never wanted another parent to feel the way I did that day, confused and disoriented in the back of an ambulance. I became a certified pregnancy health coach in 2017, focusing on helping parents advocate for their mental, spiritual, physical and emotional health. I’ve completed Mental Health First Aid, and every day I learn more about the mood disorders that can happen with pregnancy and birth.