November 2023

National Native American Heritage Month | Prematurity Awareness Month

We celebrate World Prematurity Day (Nov. 17) and Native American Heritage Month

In 2022, 10.5% of all live births in the U.S. were premature, marking a 15-year high. While the preterm birth rate has continued to rise, we are working diligently alongside the many organizations, individuals, and advocates in the birth equity space to end racial disparities in birth.



According to the National Center for Health Statistics, American Indians/Alaska Natives have the second-highest preterm birth rate (11.8%) in the country. While we’re focusing on Black families, we know from the research that there’s a strong relationship between birth outcomes in Black and Native American communities. 

As we continue our critical work, we want to honor the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans and their contributions to the effort for birth justice. We encourage you to celebrate the history and impact of the Native Americans with your own organizations and communities.

Case study co-authored by PTBi leadership on anti-racism published in BMC Public Health journal

In June 2020, PTBi committed to an Anti-Racism Action Plan outlining an approach to address anti-Blackness. This case study assessed perspectives on PTBi’s anti-racism efforts to support continued growth toward racial equity within the initiative.

"We've been on this journey for several years now, and when we started our work with Dante King, he was able to help us get a little bit beyond training and start to do some evaluation. While we were doing this, a lot of organizations were also starting to put out messages around what their commitments [to anti-racism] were. This felt really in line with that, but also more intentional and more real," said Solaire Spellen. "I want our network to know that we're keeping good on our promise and we're super serious about this work. We're also really proud that it got published. It's no easy feat, it takes years to get things published, and we're really happy it's finally published." 

The case study was conducted by Shira P. Rutman, Natasha Borgen, Solaire Spellen, Dante D. King, Martha J. Decker, Larry Rand, Alexis Cobbins, and Claire D. Brindis.

Please check it out and share it with your network.

UCSF Health Equity Summit featured panel on Black maternal health

Several PTBi and OBGYN/RS staff spoke on a Black maternal health panel at the UCSF Health Equity Summit in October. The panel was moderated by Shanell Williams and also featured Hope Williams-Burt, Dr. Dayna Long, and OBGYN/RS Chair, Dr. Andrea Jackson.

The summit curated in-person conversations with health leaders and experts to amplify the voices of those who tackle systemic barriers, empower patients, and create safer and broader access to care.

"We spoke about being part of our collective success stories. Instead of focusing on all the negative data, we talked about how EMBRACE and the BLOOM: Black Baby Equity Clinic have created an incredible experience and care for Black women, birthing people, and Black families — the ability to have care that reflects the person as well as changing outcomes," said Julie Harris-Taylor, who spoke on the panel. "I spoke about my success story with my birthing experiences and supporting my community to have agency when walking into or having to deal with these institutions and systems that weren't built for us, and definitely not for our success in any way."

A new video featuring reflections on working with the community from former PTBi community advisory board members was shown during the panel. The video is a resource for any organization considering starting a community advisory board.

PTBi has a new Operations Manager

We’re excited to introduce you to our new operations manager, Etecia Burrell. Etecia is a fourth generation San Francisco resident of Bayview Hunter’s Point. As an environmental, food, and health justice advocate, researcher, and quality improvement program manager, Etecia has worked in public health and policy since 2011.

Etecia studied herbalism in California, Maryland, Philadelphia, and Costa Rica and later received her full spectrum doula certification from Roots of Labor Birth Collective in Oakland. She believes this Black- and Indigenous-led training changed her life, helping her to re-imagine advocacy.

Etecia has been a certified Queer Preconception and Reproductive Health Counselor since 2016 and provides fertility doula support to people who are navigating their conception journey. She has experience supporting single-by-choice parents, trans birthers, and queer families on their “trying to conceive” (TTC) journey. Most recently, she completed training with the Breastfeeding Cultural Outreach Taskforce and became a certified peer lactation support counselor. 

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