First Ladies Health Initiative Hosts Event Focused On Maternal Health


First Ladies Health Initiative Hosts Event Focused On Maternal Health

By Tia Carol Jones

The First Ladies Health Initiative will host its Maternal Health Panel and Resource Fair on Saturday, Sept. 20th, at Imani Village, located at 901 E. 95th St.

The First Ladies Health Initiative was founded in 2008 with a mission to bridge the health equity gap in under-resourced communities across the country. The organization leverages partnerships with First Ladies and churches to provide advocacy, health services and educational support. Since it was founded, the First Ladies Health Initiative has provided more than 600,000 health screenings and partnered with more than 100 churches.

The First Ladies Health Initiative has initiatives around HIV/AIDS, Mental Health, Cancer, Alzheimer’s and Caregiver Care, as well as other issues that affect Black women and the community. In April of 2025, the First Ladies Health Initiative announced it was launching a national campaign to address Black Maternal Mortality. The maternal health panel and resource fair is part of that campaign, along with a podcast that also covers the topic of Black Maternal health.

Marquise Alston-Allison, Executive Director of the First Ladies Health Initiative, said the organization took on the issue of maternal health because there have been huge disparities when it comes to the Black maternal mortality rate. She said that Black women in Chicago are six times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications than their white counterparts, and nationally, that number is only four to five times.

Kirsten Corley Bennett will serve as a special host. She said when she was asked to be part of the maternal health panel and resource fair, she jumped at the opportunity. It is a personal issue for her as a mother of two, who experienced postpartum depression. She said she understands the importance of mental and physical health.

“Understanding how staggering the statistics are in terms of the mortality rate of Black women, I absolutely wanted to be a part, because if I can provide resources or help the moms have real actionable steps on what they need to do to protect themselves, I want to be a part,” she said.

Corley Bennett said that women can feel isolated when they become a mother. She said what helped her well-being was finding community with other mothers and having the ability to share stories. She said she believes in the power of community care and if people can share what they’re going through, people will relate to it and feel empowered to speak up and get the help they need. She said mothers shouldn’t have to do motherhood alone and they need support more than anything. She said the event is another way to have that kind of community.

The health resource fair will take place from 10:00 a.m. to noon and from 1:30 p.m.  to 3:00 p.m. The maternal health panel will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m.  Alston-Allison said attendees can expect a well-rounded discussion on the state of Chicago and Black maternal health that centers around people like Corley Bennett, as well as Congresswoman Robin Kelly and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, who are advocates in the maternal health space. Faith leaders and midwives and doulas will be part of the event. Alston-Allison said midwives and doulas have become more accessible to people and they are able to bill their insurance for those services.

“The panel is a discussion that I think we’re tackling in a unique way where we’re hitting spirituality, personalization and the political all in one,” Alston-Allison said. 

Corley Bennett said she hopes that women who attend the event know that their voice matters, that they takeaway actionable steps on what to look for and for families to know they are not alone. Alston Allison said she wants women who attend the event to know there are people in the medical space that look like them and they are champions and advocates.

People will be able to get their immunizations during the event and receive mental health and maternal health resources. The health and resource fair took place in Los Angeles and Atlanta before coming to Chicago. For more information about the First Ladies Health Initiative, visit www.firstladieshealth.com.

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