The Root’s Commitment to Equity
Statement of The Root’s Commitment to Equity, Inclusivity and Anti-Racism.
At the Root, we are committed to providing services and support to families with diverse needs, including but not limited to, all abilities, ethnic backgrounds, sizes, races, religions, socioeconomic statuses, gender identities or expressions, and sexual orientations.
The United States in general has an abysmal track record for maternal death rates compared to other high income countries. According to the CDC’s Pregnancy-Related Mortality Surveillance System (PMSS) over the course of a decade, 2007-2016 the pregnancy related mortality death rate has been rising and continues to rise. Among these statistics:
Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native birthing people experienced higher deaths (40.8% and 29.7%, respectively) than all other racial/ethnic populations (white death rate was 12.7%, Asian/ Pacific Islander death rate was 13.5% and Hispanic death rate was 11.5%). This was 3.2 and 2.3 times higher than for white birthing persons – and the gap widened among older age groups.
For birthing persons over the age of 30, the death rate Black and American Indian/Alaska Native birthing people was four to five times higher than it was for white women.
The death rate for Black birthing people with at least a college degree was 5.2 times that of their white counterparts.
Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color endure these rates due to systemic racism and healthcare inequities. We, as a team, are committed to doing the anti-racist work on ourselves, having the hard conversations as a team and in our community to unpack our own privilege as white, white passing and non-Black identifying people of color and to be a part of the change to make this world a better and more just place for both our and your babies to grow and thrive in.
We pledge our cultural humility to this village of parents, knowing that cultural humility constitutes a humble and respectful attitude toward individuals of cultures other than our own, and that this attitude pushes one to challenge their own cultural biases, and approach learning about different cultures and lived experiences as a lifelong goal and process.
We welcome supporting all family structures, including but not limited to LGBTQIA2S+ families, single parent families, two parent families, families with more than two parents, adoptive parents, surrogates and more. Please share your preferred pronouns with us! There will be a space for this when registering for classes as well. But we want to get it right and respect how you identify.
As recently as June 2020, nationally Trump has rolled back healthcare patient protections against discrimination for the LGBTQIA2S+ community. These protections can mean life or death and include giving doctors the rights to withhold lifesaving treatment for people because they are transgender. We are committed to The Root being a safe and inclusive space for all families and continuing to advocate for inclusivity in the birth community.
As a part of this commitment to facilitate further growth in these areas we will:
Require all employees and highly encourage all contractors/affiliates to complete the Family-Building providers training through Family Equality Open Door Professional Training program by the end of 2020.
Because this work is an inside-job, require all employees and highly encourage all contractors/affiliates to read at least one book on Anti-Racism by the end of 2020. Dedicate part of our team meetings to check-in on this work.
Offer a scholarship in every Childbirth & Breastfeeding/Chestfeeding class with first priority to parents who identify as Black, Brown, Indigenous, People of Color, Differently-Abled or LGBTQIA2S+. To inquire about scholarships email kellie@sacroot.com while our form is under construction.
Offer a monthly scholarship Birth Story Medicine Session to a parent who identifies as Black, Brown, Indigenous, Person of Color, Differently-Abled or LGBTQIA2S+.
Create a resource list of both diverse and inclusive providers in the birth space local to Sacramento to share with clients.
Continue to uplift and support Black-led organizations in the community already doing the work to support local BIPOC’s birthing experiences, including Black Mothers United and Black Infant Health by continuing to listen and learn how we can best continue to be of service.
Create more opportunities for collaboration and community partnership and space utilization for communities of color.
Create space for BIPOC leaders and contractors in the perinatal field to bring their expertise to The Root.
As the Root is an organization of white, white passing and non-Black identifying people of color, it is our responsibility to step into this work with humility, be willing to have uncomfortable conversations and continue to be change agents in the community. We will stumble. We might and likely will get it wrong. We will course correct and humbly apologize and we promise to always be striving to do better.