Project CRADLE Care/Postpartum Medical Detention Debt Relief

Women of color, regardless of their educational level, socioeconomic status, health insurance coverage, proximity to healthcare services, marital status, and other health behaviors, are twelve times more likely to die from pregnancy and delivery complications in some parts of our country. This is a critical healthcare issue that affects over 22 million individuals, not including the men and children who are also adversely affected by poor outcomes. In fact, Black women with a college degree are more likely to have infants with low birth weight and worse health outcomes during labor and delivery than white women who have not completed high school. These disparities result from a multitude of factors, ranging from chronic physiological stressors and underlying health conditions to structural racism and implicit biases in our healthcare system.

As a chapter, our goal is to adapt Sigma national programs to the needs of our communities. We achieve this through community outreach, advocacy, education, and implicit bias training. Our goal is to address and reduce outcome and life-course disparities in our communities. Consequently, we identified a need to provide postpartum medical debt relief for mothers and babies. This is a common issue in Ghana. It presents an opportunity to assist mothers who are placed on medical detention and cannot be discharged until hospital bills are cleared. The majority of women have significant debts that they and their families struggle to manage. Some debts are as low as GH700, while others exceed GH10,000.

Nu Lambda Sigma has led several initiatives to erase medical debt for women admitted to Accra's Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ridge Hospital, and 3E Medical Center. To date, with support from our National Organization, we have donated nearly $28,000 to maternity and newborn health since 2021. We are actively seeking collaborators to address challenges that disproportionately affect African women and their children, including chronic physiological stressors, underlying health concerns, structural racism, and implicit biases in our healthcare system.