Microsoft : New tools and advocacy support Black pregnant and postpartum mothers to save lives

'It's building a community,' Rupinder Legha, a psychiatrist committed to antiracism in mental health care, says of Believe Her. 'It's strength in numbers. It's promoting healing. It's reversing gaslighting. It's buffering against structural racism.'

Legha, who has included Shalon's story in lectures on antiracism in medicine, applauds the app as a solution created by and for people closest to the problem.

'People like Wanda [Irving] and Bianca are breathing life into tragedies like Shalon's story and doing antiracist work to link people together and validate their truth,' she says. 'They are the ones living and breathing this experience, not medical professionals like myself. They are the experts.'

Sarah Verbiest, a longtime leader in social work and maternal health, says sharing stories is crucial during the often isolating, anxious time of pregnancy and postpartum. The anonymous chat rooms in Believe Her on topics like mental health and systemic racism help encourage honesty.

'When women speak their truth, it generates power,' says Verbiest, co-founder of the 4th Trimester Project for postpartum health and co-principal investigator at the Maternal Health Learning & Innovation Center. Both organizations are based at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill.

Data also helps. A recent study of women undergoing a cesarean section at UNC Medical Center found that Black and Hispanic women received less pain medication and fewer pain assessments and reported higher pain scores than white and Asian women.

'That was a very concrete example of why we need a lot of training and learning about racism,' Verbiest says. 'We have to hold people accountable and say, 'You don't get paid unless your outcomes are the same for everybody.''

Irving and Pryor are among a growing number of Black female entrepreneurs creating new maternal health technologies, including Irth, an app for finding prenatal, birthing, postpartum and pediatric reviews from Black and brown women. Mahmee is a maternity and infant care management platform prominently funded by professional tennis player Serena Williams, who almost died after giving birth.

Zoula, an app that connects Black mothers and Black health professionals in local communities, was founded by Yale University students who studied the historical exploitation of Black women in medicine and continuing disparities in maternal mortality today.

'It opened our eyes that it isn't just about history, but about right now,' says Chika Ogbejesi, chief marketing officer at Zoula. 'And realizing that, as Black people, the only way to fix these problems is doing it ourselves.'

But first, Irving had to grieve her enormous loss while raising Shalon's daughter, Soleil. For two years, Irving sat with her granddaughter by a window near a portrait of Shalon, wishing for her to come home. She now sees Shalon's energy and determination in Soleil, who is four, loves dance and gymnastics, and asks why her mother 'had to go.'

'It breaks my heart because I have no answer for that,' Irving says. 'I never imagined my life without my daughter.'