Report: Infant Mortality Rate Drops Overall, Racial Disparity Persists

More Franklin County babies lived to see their first birthday in 2018, but the disparity between black and white babies has persisted, according to a report released by CelebrateOne and Columbus Public Health. Last year, the county’s infant mortality rate dropped to roughly 8 deaths per 1,000 births, an overall 23 percent decrease from 2011. […]
Roe Rollback | Criminalizing Miscarriage

**Editor’s note: This is the third article in a three-part series analyzing the consequences of a Roe v Wade overturn. The first piece looks at current and future threats to the right to privacy and autonomy. The second piece examines how a post-Roe Ohio would look.** Few stories make headlines, but since 1973, women across the U.S. […]
Beyond Kavanaugh | The Dwindling Right to Privacy

**Editor’s note: This is the first article in a three-part series analyzing the consequences of a Roe v Wade overturn. The second piece examines how a post-Roe Ohio would look. The third addresses the potential criminalization of miscarriage.** As the U.S. awaits the confirmation of judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, the conversation around […]
Black Women Are Four Times More Likely to Die During Childbirth Than White Women

Jennifer Walton knew how she wanted it to go when she was pregnant with her first daughter Sabella Nile (who would probably forever have to clarify, “Isabella, without the ‘I’”). She wanted to deliver her baby, and she didn’t like the idea of undergoing surgery through a cesarean section. From the outset, it seemed that […]
Black Maternal Health Week

As a Kindred Partner of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, ROOTT will host several events during the inaugural Black Maternal Health Week, April 11th- 17th. These events are part of a coordinated national effort to raise awareness and increase advocacy for Black Mamas, their children, and families of color. In Franklin County alone, Black infant […]
Black Maternal Health Week Highlights, Examines Racial Disparities in Health Care

Columbus is having its first ever Black Maternal Health Week BMHW, hosted by Restoring Our Own Through Transformation (ROOTT). ROOTT, established last year, is the region’s leading organization focused on maternal health for black women and women of color. The week examines birth and pregnancy as a social justice movement through a series of events […]