B'more for Healthy Babies Commitment to Achieving Equity
B’more for Healthy Babies works to ensure that every Baltimore family – no matter who you are, where you live, how much money you make, or the color of your skin – has the opportunity to have a thriving baby who grows into a healthy child.
The health of babies and families in Baltimore varies widely based on race, neighborhood, and income. Although fewer babies in Baltimore are dying, Black babies die at a rate four times greater than White babies. They are more likely to be born too soon and too small, and as a result, they are at higher risk for lifelong health and learning problems. Life expectancy varies in Baltimore by 20 years based on neighborhood, with people in the poorest neighborhoods dying younger. These are “health inequities”—differences in health that are unjust and unfair. The root causes of these inequities are unjust social and economic policies, racism, discrimination, and unequal access to health care, stable housing, and other resources needed for good health.
B’more for Healthy Babies is committed to achieving health equity. We commit to:
Training our leadership, staff, and partners to deepen our capacity to address inequities
—
Putting in place organizational policies that foster equity and inclusion
—
Welcoming challenges to privilege, oppression, and unequal power dynamics
—
Using data to uncover trends and injustices in health and to drive our decision making
—
Developing a strategic plan and tracking performance indicators to show improvement
—
Assessing the impact of our work on different populations and changing course when needed
At the policy/systems level, we commit to:
Taking action to increase access to health care services and resources
—
Advocating for public and administrative policies that advance equity
—
Building partnerships to address the root cause of inequities
—
Fighting racism and other forms of oppression
At the services level, we commit to:
Recognizing that differences in race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, physical ability, socioeconomic class, education, and many other factors affect how we relate to clients, residents, communities, and each other
—
Building a workforce of service providers who provide respectful and responsive services without discrimination
At the community and individual levels, we commit to:
Building our competency in collaborating with community residents
—
Working in neighborhoods most impacted by inequities to capitalize on strengths, build capacity, and improve health
—
Engaging community residents in identifying inequities, developing solutions, and carrying out action plans (“nothing about us without us”)
—
Including men and others underrepresented in maternal and child health initiatives