On November 21, The White House rolled out the green carpet to celebrate the 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics, who invited Boston Medical Center to take part in the special moment, which included a roundtable discussion on the importance of maternal health equity.
Boston Medical Center’s Melissa Nass, MD, Medical Director of our Curbside Care Unit, and former Curbside patient and now employee Porshai Peters were invited to the big day, along with BMC’s Vice President for Community Engagement and External Affairs Trina Martin Cherry. Senator Ed Markey, U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, State Representative Aaron Michlewitz, Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, and many more took part in the day.
BMCHS VP of Community Engagement and External Affairs Petrina Martin Cherry with U.S. Senator Ed Markey.
Thanks to a generous $1.5 million commitment from the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation, BMC’s Curbside Care mobile unit officially launched in early 2023. This novel program that delivers care to moms and babies right at their doorstep.
BMC’s Curbside Care program came in response to a troubling statistic: 40% of new moms at BMC never return for a post-partum appointment in part due to lack of transportation or childcare. Data shows startling disparities between Black women and white women on rates of postpartum mortality, identification and treatment for postpartum depression, and breastfeeding duration.
Up to 2,100 patients a year benefit from a host of services delivered by BMC Pediatrics and Midwifery Service:
- newborn care
- lactation support
- post-partum depression screening and connection to primary care and behavioral health service
- weekly virtual support group facilitated by a peri-partum therapist
- blood pressure screening and monitoring
- food, diapers, thermometers, hygiene products, breast pumps, and more
- counseling on preconception health and birth spacing
- chronic disease management and referral
Curbside Care is part of BMC’s commitment to health equity and works to close disparities by eliminating barriers and bringing care directly to patients. Special thanks to the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation for their generous partnership and belief in BMC’s mission.
