Maternal Mortality is at crisis level and has worsened over the past 20 years. In the United States, Black birthing people are more than three times as likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white birthing people, and Indigenous people are more than twice as likely, regardless of income or education levels. In Los Angeles County, there is only one survey related to birthing outcomes, and its data influences the allocation of resources and informs strategies aimed at ameliorating perinatal issues including infant mortality, low birth weight, and preterm births. Unfortunately, the current survey results are more than two years out of date and fail to capture data from systemically excluded populations.

This scenario created an opportunity to explore questions around technology-assisted data collection. If smart technology could be inserted into the survey administration process for live data capture, the process of analyzing and disseminating the data could happen more quickly, resulting in more relevant data for policy making for all birthing people in LA County.

The resulting project centered community birthworkers from the Birthworkers of Color Collective in imagining how smart technology could assist with birth outcome data collection and dissemination. Alexandrina Agloro and Stevie Merino will share lessons learned from the community research collaboration and how these findings can be applied toward policy and the future of accessible reproductive care.