GREENSBORO, N.C. — Novant Health is spreading awareness about black maternal health.
They are partnering with a Triad cinema to provide free screening and a panel discussion about a movie focused on childbirth complications.
According to the CDC, Black women are more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women.
The movie 'Aftershock' focuses on two women that died due to childbirth complications and the community's response to their deaths.
Novant Health Physician, Pam Oliver says through the movie they want to have conversations about the inequities that exist in Black maternal wellness. She says heart conditions are the number 1 cause of death in black mothers and 80% of those deaths are preventable if black women have the access they need for care.
"We know that women of color live in areas more likely in the US that have access gaps and access to care that it said that 6.9 million women in the US live in areas where there’s low or no coverage, we had to fix that so that's half a million births in areas where there is low to no coverage," Oliver said.
She also said Tuesday's panel discussion is to not raise fear but to help women understand what they can do to have a safer pregnancy.
"Any woman that is considering starting a family whether she is afraid or not, would benefit from a pre-conception counseling visit with a physician to establish a relationship to develop trust and to get questions answered," Oliver said. "As much as social media can be great in many ways it can also create data points in stories or narratives that people don’t give the big picture."
The Aftershock movie and panel discussion begins at 7 p.m. at A/perture Cinema in Winston-Salem.