SIG Spotlight: Medical Students for Maternal Health Equity
Medical student interest group members compile care packages for Richmond-area postpartum mothers.
MSMHE leadership and volunteers with care packages for postpartum mothers. (Left to right) M2 Allison Tegner, M1 Sofiya Blat, M2 Pamela Dang, M2 Catherine Pham and M2 Noelle Maison (photo by Arda Athman, School of Medicine)
SIG Spotlight is an ongoing series highlighting the initiatives and engagement of School of Medicine student interest groups. If you'd like to see your group featured, please email Grace.McOmber@vcuhealth.org for consideration.
Lip balm, nail polish and nursing pads were piled up on tables in an MMEC studio, along with stacks of foldable gift boxes. Student volunteers worked their way around each table to compile 100 care packages for postpartum mothers, led by organizers of the Medical Students for Maternal Health Equity (MSMHE) student interest group.
In addition to the self-care and baby items, volunteers also included decorated envelopes with messages like “Open when you’re feeling alone,” “Open when you’re anxious” and “Open when you’re tired” on the front. Each envelope contains a motivational and comforting note for the new moms.
The event was the second that the group has hosted to support new mothers in the Richmond community, according to second-year student and MSMHE co-president Noelle Maison.
“It’s about showing them that we care and that we are here for them,” she said. “Postpartum can be such a difficult and isolating time and this is a little way that we can hopefully make it easier.”
M1 Kaitlyn Cheng, who helped compile the care packages, appreciated the event's emphasis on postpartum care, an aspect of maternal health that she said is often overlooked.
“We’ve learned about the big hormonal changes that happen after giving birth,” Cheng said. “This event is looking not only at the medical side of postpartum care, but also the emotional perspective and how important community support is during this time.”
Medical students created MSMHE in 2022, inspired to act after a presentation from Charles Johnson, the founder of the maternal health equity organization 4Kira4Moms. In a mandatory session during new student orientation, Johnson shared the story of his wife, Kira, who died hours after giving birth to their second child.
The U.S. has the highest rate of maternal deaths among developed nations, with 22 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. And due to a lack of access to obstetrics care, along with implicit bias, underlying health conditions and socioeconomic barriers, Black women like Kira are nearly three times more likely to die in childbirth than white women in the U.S.
Following childbirth, one in seven women develop postpartum depression (PPD), a serious mood disorder caused by a number of factors, including hormonal changes and psychosocial stress. A lack of social support can exacerbate PPD, an issue co-president and second-year student Pamela Dang said MSMHE hopes to combat with the care packages.
“We’ve learned a lot about postpartum depression and how a lot of mothers struggle to find their own identity after having a child,” Dang said. “We wanted to pack things that make taking care of herself more accessible.”
Tashima Lambert Giles, M.D., MSMHE’s faculty advisor and an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said the first few weeks following childbirth can be isolating and overwhelming, both physically and mentally. Postpartum care packages, she said, can help new mothers feel less alone in their experience.
“A lot of women struggle with the change in identity that comes with becoming a mother,” Lambert Giles said. “We’re putting things like lip balm and nail polish in there because it helps remind them that they are their own person, not just a vessel for their baby.”
MSMHE is collaborating with Birth in Color, a Richmond-based health collective dedicated to culturally inclusive maternal and reproductive care, to distribute the care packages to postpartum moms across the Richmond area. The packages will go out during Black Maternal Health week in April 2025.
Maison, Dang and treasurer Allison Tegner said the group packed all 100 boxes in just under an hour, a feat they credit to the volunteers that came out that day.
“It was great to see so many people, especially M1s, interested in our mission and our group.” Tegner said.
In addition to community outreach events, MSMHE also hosts workshops and lectures with doulas, midwives, other health care providers and community advocates to raise awareness around maternal health inequity.
“I think anyone interested in OB-GYN, pediatrics or finding a way to connect with the community in general should get involved in our group,” Maison said.
Getting involved:
Students interested in joining MSMHE can email the group at vcu.msmhe@gmail.com.
