We need you to support black women by helping us open the Lt. Tamesha Dickey Black Maternal Health Center, NJ’s first Black maternal health clinic, in East Orange, named for a local Black mama and Police Lieutenant who died from inadequate perinatal care.

Nationwide, Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women. In New Jersey, Black women are seven to eight times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause.

91% of these deaths are preventable. That means you can do something to prevent a Black mama from dying. You can help build the Lt. Tahmesha Dickey Black Maternal Health Center. It would be NJ’s first such center. The state of New Jersey recognizes that continuity of care combined with lack of patient and provider education are the top contributing factors to poor outcomes.

Additionally, we know that when care is provided to Black women by Black health care providers their outcomes are better. Together, these are problems we can solve.

Over the last six years that we have been in operation, PHEI has dedicated ourselves to tackling this issue by developing community response programs such as:

Mamas in Bloom
Sistahs Who Breastfed
Clinical lactation support
Butterfly Fund
Community based research

Capital Campaign: The Lt. Tahmesha Dickey Black Maternal Health Center

By Perinatal Health Equity Initiative

Capital Campaign: The Lt. Tahmesha Dickey Black Maternal Health Center

Team Members