PORTSMOUTH, Va. — In Portsmouth, moms and moms-to-be and moms were showered with some love and support.
On Saturday, the Portsmouth Department of Social Services and the Portsmouth Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority's Inc. hosted a community baby shower.
Thanks to the help of a recent $3,000 grant from the South Atlantic region of the sorority, resources were set up to be there for families before and after birth.
Moms like Briana Pope said it was a blessing for her and her bundle of joy to be Brianna.
"I do appreciate events like this it just helps support the community and brings us together and it's a great thing," said Pope.
The sorority says the baby shower goes beyond making sure these moms have what they need.
"We've been hearing more and more about the staggering numbers with the infant mortality and black maternal mortality rates that are happening in the city of Portsmouth so we wanted to have an event to address that," said Nakkia Gray with the organization.
Along with a list of vendors presenting resources to the moms was a panel of professionals to speak on the topic of maternal health, including Nichole Wardlaw a midwife of 19 years who has helped deliver more than 1000 babies.
"Many of my clients come to me because they don't feel seen or heard, there is implicit bias in our medical system clients are talked to instead of spoken with. There is not enough informed decision-making and joint decision making and there is no conversation with the clients," explained Wardlaw.
Wardlaw says she's had her own experience 29 years ago.
"When I was pregnant with my first child I had an issue with my pregnancy," explained Wardlaw. "I was a high-risk pregnancy no one explained anything to me no one educated me and I felt like I was just a number,"
Almost 30 years later, she doesn't think much has changed.
"I think it's gotten bad, even worse than before. We have a long way to go our country is an industrialized nation and we have numbers that are comparable to developing nations and that's awful especially when it comes to black women," said Wardlaw.
Hosts of the event from the sorority said that they wanted to help prevent a loss and help welcome new life. That might mean connecting a mom with a Douala to go with her to appointments. If that's not possible, the sorority says they would like to help women find their voice in doctors' appointments.
"We want to help them get to a better state where they understand how to advocate for themselves who they should be talking to, what are the questions they should be asking, what services they should be asking for or even demanding," said Gray.
The organization adds that they also wanted to create a community these women of Portsmouth can rely on.
"Sometimes we feel like we are by ourselves when in fact others are going through the same thing," says Lisa Downey-Hood with the Sorority.
