For the past two decades, Black women in New York City have been on average eight times more likely to die than pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts.
The disparity is staggering – and for Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, it’s personal.
He learned just how bad things were when he was a council member and his wife, Iliana, was pregnant with their first child, Alejandro. The two were visiting Woodhull Hospital for a doctor’s appointment when their midwife Ms. Helena Grant sat them down to explain the heightened risks and complications Iliana faced as an Afro-Caribbean woman.
As Ms. Grant explained the many reasons why Black and Brown women face such disastrous outcomes – from the ongoing legacies of slavery to disinvested health care and medical racism – one thing became clear: the maternal health crisis could not be solved by tinkering around the margins.
So, Borough President Reynoso made a promise to Brooklyn. He committed to do whatever he could to make the borough the safest place in the city to have a baby.
As he took his seat in Borough Hall, he quickly got to work. In his first year, Reynoso assembled a Maternal Health Task Force, invested the entirety of his FY2023 capital funding – a total of $45 million – to Brooklyn’s three public hospitals for maternal healthcare improvements, and launched initiatives like his Born in Brooklyn Baby Boxes and Healthy Pregnancy Resource Guide to equip new and expecting parents with the information and tools they need to stay safe and healthy.
Every year, Borough President Reynoso is building on his commitment and pursuing new and bold pathways toward safe pregnancies in Brooklyn.
Learn more about the Borough President’s efforts to improve maternal health and access resources and information by navigating the sections below.
Maternal Health Timeline
April 2022
Maternal Health Task Force
In April 2022, BP Reynoso formed his Maternal Health Task Force of eight Black women OBGYNs, nurses, midwives, mental health advocates, nonprofit leaders and other community leaders to guide efforts to improve pregnancy outcomes for Black and Brown people in Brooklyn.
The Task Force is led by Dr. Wendy Wilcox (Co-Chair), Chief Women’s Health Service Officer at Health + Hospitals, and Helena Grant (Co-Chair), Senior Advisor of Midwifery Initiatives for DOHMH.
Summer 2022
$45M for Public Hospitals
Over the 2022 summer, BP Reynoso allocated the entirety of his FY2023 capital funding – a total of $45 million – to Brooklyn’s three public hospitals for maternal healthcare improvements. This marked the first time a Borough President has ever allocated an entire fiscal year’s capital funding to one cause, and within one city organization.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County received $15.625M to renovate the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) and mother-baby units.
NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health received $18.5M to renovate the outpatient care center, labor and delivery rooms, post-partum recovery rooms, and NICU.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull received $11M to build a state-of-the-art birthing center.
November 2022
‘Born in Brooklyn’ Baby Boxes
In November 2022, a total of 500 post-partum families receiving care at select Brooklyn hospitals and clinics received “Born in Brooklyn” baby boxes with free baby supplies and post-partum resources for new parents through a $100,000 grant from the BP’s office to Met Council.
November 2022
‘Healthy Pregnancy’ Public Education Campaign
In the fall of 2022, BP Reynoso launched a $250,000 multimedia public education campaign connecting Brooklynites with a resource guide for a healthy pregnancy informed by the Borough President’s Maternal Health Taskforce.
The multicultural campaign included English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole informational ads in bus and train stations in key Brooklyn neighborhoods and across digital platforms.
Check the Borough President’s Healthy Pregnancy Guide.
July 2023
Maternal Health Expo
In July 2023, BP Reynoso welcomed over a hundred new and expecting parents to Brooklyn Borough Hall for a ‘Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies’ maternal health expo. The afternoon-long event included:
Workshops on prenatal nutrition, breastfeeding, safe sleep, and rights like parental leave and health insurance;
Mommy and Me yoga and belly dancing classes;
Resources and information from 20+ agencies and community organizations;
A Pack-n-Play raffle.
April 2024
Brooklyn Community Baby Shower
In April 2024, BP Reynoso hosted a ‘Brooklyn Community Baby Shower’ for 100 new and expecting mothers. The day-long celebration took place at NYCHA’s Van Dyke Community Center in Brownsville and included:
Over a dozen organizations tabling with resources and information;
Workshops on safe sleep and postpartum mental health;
Games, arts & crafts, and contests;
And of course, gifts!
Attendees left with diaper bags full of diapers, baby wipes, baby blankets, postpartum pads, and baby books, as well as a supply box containing a baby bottle, cocoa butter, additional baby wipes, and more.
August 2024
Community Baby Shower Fund
In August 2024, BP Reynoso announced a $50,000 ‘Community Baby Shower Fund’ to provide matching funds of up to $5,000 to Brooklyn nonprofits hosting community baby showers in neighborhoods with high maternal mortality and morbidity rates.
Learn how to apply to the Borough President’s Community Baby Shower Fund.
Healthy Pregnancy Guide
Check out Borough President Reynoso’s Guide to a Safe & Healthy Pregnancy. The guide is full of information for new and expecting parents and ways to get connected to pregnancy and baby resources.
Community Baby Shower Fund
Want to throw a community baby shower to help the new and expecting parents in your neighborhood? Borough President Reynoso wants to help!
The Borough President’s Community Baby Shower Fund offers Brooklyn nonprofits the opportunity to request up to $5,000 in reimbursed funding from the Community Baby Shower Fund for non-personnel expenses.
No Brooklynite should have to experience the joys and anxieties of pregnancy and parenthood alone, and community baby showers offer a powerful venue for neighbors to come together in celebration and in support of one another.