UAMS to Hold Panel Discussions About Black Maternal Mortality
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has partnered with the Little Rock (AR) Chapter of The Links, Inc. and the National Healthy Start Association to host virtual viewings and community discussion on Black maternal mortality rates and the short film Toxic: A Black Woman’s Story.
The film follows Nina, a pregnant Black woman navigating her career, marriage and motherhood while dealing with race-related stress. Currently, Black women in the United States are three to four times more likely to die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth than white women are.
The one-hour small group Zoom sessions will take place March 16 at 5 p.m. and March 29 at 6 p.m. During the sessions, participants will view the 20-minute film and engage in a discussion focused on health equity, and steps community members can take to lower the Black maternal mortality rate.
The community sessions are part of a smaller discussion series leading to a distinguished panel discussion on March 30 at 5 p.m. Panelists include Haywood Brown, M.D., of the University of South Florida Health; Veronica Gillespie, M.D., of Ochsner Health in Louisiana; William Greenfield, M.D., of the UAMS Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; and Deborah Frazier, RN, of the National Healthy Start Association.
To sign up for the community sessions, click here. To sign up for the March 30 distinguished panel discussion, click here.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,485 students, 915 medical residents and fellows, and seven dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###