By Kimora J. Wong Sing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Dr. Vernette Kountz, caring for mothers is personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kountz is a physician, surrogate, birth worker and mother who says her own experiences have shaped the way she cares for the women who walk into her practice. Pregnancy, she said, cannot be separated from everything a woman carries: her family, her work, her stress and the support system around her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I do come into the conversation with my moms and their families, I want them to tell me everything that\u2019s going on,\u201d Kountz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That perspective is at the heart of how Kountz approaches Black maternal health. She believes providers have to look beyond the pregnancy itself and understand the person experiencing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Kountz, that work is more than a profession. \u201cThe calling chose me,\u201d she said. That calling comes at a time when Black mothers continue to face disparities in maternal health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2024, Black women in the United States had a maternal mortality rate of 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, more than three times the rate for White women, which was 14.2 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>. The CDC<\/a> also reports that Black women are about three times more likely than White women to die from a pregnancy-related cause, and more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those numbers point to a larger question: What happens when mothers do not feel heard, supported or connected to the care they need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Kountz, the answer starts with building a community around each mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBuild your community,\u201d she said. \u201cYour team will carry you when you don’t feel like you can carry anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That team can include doctors, midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, pelvic floor therapists and other birth workers. Kountz said the goal is not for one provider to do everything, but for providers to work together and make sure mothers have someone advocating for them when they cannot advocate for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That need for personal connection is something Marsha Ford, a midwife with 33 years of experience, has seen throughout her career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ford said caring for mothers cannot be reduced to protocols, technology or a short appointment. Providers need to understand the woman sitting in front of them, including what she is eating, where she lives, what support she has at home and what she may be carrying emotionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Let them feel that we care, because we sit and ask questions:\u00a0How are things happening at home? How are you and your partner together? Is she with a partner? Is this a baby she really wanted? Was she raped?\u00a0Any of these things. That is a real conversation, and you can’t get that in 15 minutes.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>Ford said while realizing the importance authenticity versus technology. <\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Ford said that kind of relationship is essential because every patient is different. \u201cWe need to have standards and have policies. But every patient is different,\u201d Ford said. \u201cYou get to know that patient, you get to know what’s going on with her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Ford, emotional care is part of maternal care. A mother may need someone who knows her history, understands her body and recognizes when something has changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That kind of individualized care is also what Atlanta-area birth workers and organizations are trying to provide. Midwives, doulas, physicians and community organizations are creating spaces where mothers can ask questions, advocate for themselves and feel seen throughout pregnancy and after birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But access to that kind of care remains a challenge across Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n