Giving birth always involves risk to mother and child. In 2024, Birthing people in the U.S. are more than twice as likely to die during pregnancy or birth than their mothers and grandmothers. Health Disparities are present when that risk is not evenly distributed across the population. Here in progressive Massachusetts, black women are having much worse birth outcomes than their white counterparts, and we are one of the highest risk states overall. Dr. Hamblin will dive into the root causes and share some innovative practices, like doulas, that can improve outcomes for everyone, especially black women.
Dr. Cherise Hamblin is the Medical Director of the UMass Memorial Medical Center Doula Program and an Assistant Professor of OBGYN at UMass Chan Medical School. She was born and raised in the Bronx, NY and attended Franklin & Marshall College where she doubled majored in Biology and Spanish before attending Medical School at Northwestern University. She is the Founder and President of Patients R Waiting, a non-profit committed to developing black leadership in medicine and eliminating health disparities. She is a fulltime, board certified OBGYN as well as a wife and mother to a daughter and son. She is driving social change, and Central Massachusetts is so fortunate to have her here!