- Area hospitals in Cincinnati are working to create healthier birth outcomes by partnering with the nonprofit organization.

Cradle Cincinnati Cradle has a branch organization called Queens Village.

They're dedicated to centering the voices of black mothers and bettering maternal and infant health.

Through their initiatives, we see that the cure for disparities in infant mortality is stronger communication between medical institutions and communities.

Take a look - What Walk - Queens Village is.

I was looking for - Community.

It doesn't hurt to have a all black women to you.

I had a long day today, but I just got a burst of energy when I walked the door - Cradle.

Cincinnati's branch organization, Queens Village, has events called mommy meetups.

The meetups are opportunities for black mothers to rest, relax, and connect to resources during pregnancy and postpartum.

- We are trying to get in touch with the best part of ourself, the things that bring us joy.

- This is a resource that organization member Ria Joy Barnes wishes she knew about before her first pregnancy.

- The first time mom.

I think I lacked the ability to understand the resources around me.

I did not know of Queens Villages or Cradle Cincinnati until I was willing to having my second child.

- Joy went through four pregnancies, and it was during her third one in 2023 that a life changing experience made her aware of the infant mortality crisis affecting black women.

- Before I lost my daughter to stillbirth, I actually went to the hospital three times for the same reason.

I was not listened to, I was not taken seriously.

Ultimately, I got sent home 24 hours later, I went to my doctor's appointment and my child was, you know, right, right smack dab in the middle of labor preparing to be born.

- Do you feel like if you were listened to, like the first time you went to the to the hospital, like do you think that would've made a difference?

- Absolutely.

Would it have changed the outcome?

No one would ever know the answer, but it definitely would've made a difference.

- During her fourth pregnancy, she and her husband utilized an initiative from Queens Village called Mama Certified.

- But also patient care was big for me as well, coming off of a loss.

So that was how I used Mama certified to really get into, okay, what is going to be the best decision for me, but also for my Family?

- Mama certified is a hospital certification program to help parents to be and families find a hospital that meets their needs.

Hospitals can earn the certification by following guidelines that include sharing data with Queens Village to help create better maternal care.

I'm proud of you.

This idea was birthed by Queens Village Mothers who wanted to know where they could find the best care based on their own individual needs.

- And they said, you know what would be really helpful to us is having more information about the birthing hospitals in this community.

- Jill Miller is the president and CEO of the nonprofit Philanthropy, BI I three.

This organization helps support health equity efforts like MAMA Certified.

She said, for this initiative to work as a viable resource, major hospitals needed to cooperate with each other and the community.

- All the healthcare systems who compete at a very high level here in Cincinnati we're all willing to share their data around these metrics.

They all realized, look, we're better together and we all wanna improve mom and baby health and let's work together to do that as a region.

- BBY Break spoke to all the major hospitals in the region to see some of the ways they're addressing the high infant mortality rates.

Dr.

James Greenberg, the co-director of the Perinatal Institute at Cincinnati Children's says we need to focus on social determinants of health.

- It's things like domestic violence or feeling unsafe in where you live.

It may be housing insecurity.

If you are preoccupied with these really serious issues where your own safety is involved, then it becomes more difficult for a host of reasons to be able to access that prenatal care that you need.

- Senior Vice President at TriHealth, Jeremiah Kirkland agrees.

He says, addressing mental health can in turn help maternal and infant health.

- We want to see when someone is dealing with something deeper than the surface, maybe we need therapy.

Maybe we need some sort of psychological intervention beyond the surface.

And in some ways, I think deeper training for, for us as a health system, but for many health systems across the country to see that, address it and then have the support and resources to take care of that individual.

- Mercy Health Director of Community Health, Conoco Kashima stresses the importance of sustenance - Food security, but more so nutrition.

Security is important for moms to have good outcomes for the birth and, and have a safe delivery and also in postpartum care.

So in that sense, we've partnered with a wonderful organization locally called Produce Parks Midwest, to deliver infant vitality, produce boxes to parents throughout pregnancy and postpartum - Sleep related deaths account for nearly a quarter of the high infant mortality rates in Hamilton County.

Dr.

Marcus Romanello, chief Medical Officer at Christ Hospital says some families don't have the resources for safe sleep.

- Once the baby goes home, safe sleep becomes so incredibly important.

So we've made sure that we're addressing that need.

Every single baby goes home with a sleep sack.

The the households that don't have a crib, we help provide that.

- And from uc Health, we have Clinical nurse manager, Evelyn Agbami and Health Integration manager, Brenda Logan, who remind us of the warmth needed.

In healthcare, - We are the best as far as like delivering high quality care, but how we deliver that high quality care and making sure the patient experience it in the same way we intend for them to experience it is another portion that we have to learn and grow.

- We have a hospitality team that reaches out to mothers that are welcomed into the village.

Yesterday we did facials and massages.

Two over 42 women.

So just literally meeting black women where they are with whatever they come in with, and just letting them lean on us to provide rest.

- These collective efforts create waves of positive change in the community and it appears to be growing since 2024.

2,500 hospital staff completed MAMA certified training on racial equity and respectful maternity care.

Joy describes better care as medical providers being more attentive.

- I really do believe listening can take things a long way.

You may not always get a solution to your problem or you may not always have a solution to a problem, but even if you just listen to understand, a person can respect that you don't have the answer, but at least they feel like you heard them regardless of whatever it is.

- And if you want to see the product of a mother who felt supported by the medical system during her pregnancy, look no further than Aaliyah Allen, the new mother spoke with Brick by Brick just four weeks after she gave birth to Baby Zani.

She says her case managers helped her when she lost her job during her pregnancy.

- My case manager at Good Samaritan, she told me like, you know, through your insurance, you know, like we can get you rides.

Like the hospital can provide you those transportation so you know you can't get to your appointments.

'cause I'm big on going into my appointments like I don't know about nobody else, but I go to my doctor's appointments.

- Aaliyah felt secured through the highs and lows of pregnancy.

- They were like really one of like my biggest supports throughout my pregnancy.

Understanding like, okay, she is a first time mom and like this is what's going on and this is what she's dealing with.

Like they were really like big on making sure I didn't fall short of anything.

Like - Do you feel like you would've been able to go through your pregnancy without them?

- No.

- Why is that?

- Because you have like your ups and downs, but it's just like with them, they didn't judge.

- And it's that grace throughout the pregnancy and postpartum process, along with efforts from hospitals and community members that embody the mission of Queens Village and their collective approach to lowering infant mortality.

Miller says, the only way we can improve care from others and decrease infant mortality is through communication with all entities.

- What we want to do is we want to listen to the experts, listen to our nonprofit partners, listen to the people that they serve to better understand the problems such as maternal and infant health, so that we collectively can co-create solutions that lead to better health outcomes.

- Through the efforts of Queens Village, more hospitals are becoming MAMA certified and created.

Cincinnati told Brick by Brick that the newest facility getting their certification is TriHealth McCullough Hyde Moral Hospital.

They'll be receiving their badge during their third annual MAMA certified badging event this spring from Rib by Brick.

I'm Hearns Leger, Jr.