Overview: To confront America’s severe maternal mortality crisis—where Black women die at roughly 2.5 to 3 times the rate of white women—Morgan State University is leading a 19-site national initiative across historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority-serving institutions. Spearheaded by the Maternal Health Research Coordinating Center, the collaborative funds, trains, and networks Black scholars to pivot away from merely cataloging racial health disparities toward delivering community-driven policy, simulation modeling, and legislative remedies.
Morgan State University mobilizes a 19-site HBCU network to turn lived experience into actionable fixes for America’s Black maternal health emergency.
The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any wealthy nation — and Black American women experience the worst of the worst, dying at rates roughly 2.5 times the national average and about three times higher than the rate of white women.
Morgan State University in Baltimore is advancing groundbreaking, community-centered research examining how Black communities can contribute solutions to this persistent crisis. And Dr. Jessica Owens-Young, a professor in Morgan State’s Department of Public and Allied Health and the Center for Urban Health Equity, is at the forefront of the effort.
“Dr. Joy,” as she is known to colleagues because of her initials, serves as principal investigator of the Maternal Health Research Coordinating Center, a national network of 16 research centers across 19 sites at HBCUs and minority-serving institutions. All are working to close persistent gaps in maternal health outcomes for Black communities by engaging in research that goes beyond further documenting problems to recommending practical solutions for community adoption.
For example, the centers have tackled policy issues to help make doulas more widely available to help women in childbirth and created performance art to disseminate critical information to communities.
Dr. Joy discusses the mission and work of the Maternal Health Research Coordinating Center in this conversation that has been edited for length and clarity.
WIB: Why was the center founded and what type of research does it conduct?
Dr. Joy Owens-Young: The purpose of the center is to build research capacity among HBCUs and minority-serving institutions for maternal health research. We provide training and networking opportunities to ensure that researchers can begin or enhance their careers with the skills, capabilities and connections needed to conduct problem-solving maternal health research. Too often, research is focused on the actual problem, but we need more about the solutions, meaning what works from the community level. And so all of our research centers have established community partnerships and work within their local communities to develop solutions to improve maternal health.
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