Each year, the Healthy Baby Network holds a Black Maternal Health Walk-A-Thon to raise awareness about the Black birthing experience, to provide various resources for families, and to build community.
This year's event will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at The Mall At Greece Ridge.
“Parents and babies are important, and one way to honor that is to just go for a little walk,” said Sherita Bullock, president and CEO of the Healthy Baby Network.
Bullocks said the Black Maternal Health Walk-A-Thon is a way to acknowledge inequities while also appreciating the progress. She said organizations are “so focused on preventing the bad”, that they don't get a chance to recognize the good.
“What this event does is give us an opportunity to settle in on the good and to celebrate that,” Bullock said.
The walk-a-thon, is now in its third year and draws hundreds of participants and more than a dozen vendors.
Jasmine Brewer, director of birthing and postpartum services at the Healthy Baby Network, coordinates the event. She said this year it's about making more connections.
“It shows our commitments to families, our community, bringing connections, bringing awareness,” Brewer said. “We're all about making sure that everyone has what they need and that we are able to meet them where they are and support them.”
The walk-a-thon kicks off Black Maternal Health week, which runs nationally from April 11th through the 17th. Brewer said the goal is for everyone to leave better off than how they came.
Registration begins at 9 a.m., followed by the walk, and a dance party that ends at 2 p.m.
