The New England Journal of Medicine says that “Slavery has produced a legacy of racism, injustice, and brutality that runs from 1619 to the present, and that legacy infects medicine as it does all social institutions.”
This is especially evident in the way Black mothers and their infants are treated in today’s healthcare system.
As the Washington Post points out, the black infant mortality rate is more than two times higher than for whites — 11.4 deaths per 1,000 live births for blacks compared with 4.9 for whites.
Today, SheMatters, an online platform and mobile app designed is aiming to shift this dangerous pattern and fortunately, key investors are paying attention.
The platform recently announced the close of over $1.5 million in seed funding. The round includes investor participation from Oxeon Ventures, Chingona Ventures, New York University, The Fund and Techstars. SheMatters also named Alexander Packard, President at Iora Health, as Board Chair and Eric Ries, Author of The Lean Startup, as a board member.
“SheMatters is the First Product and the most pressing. Black women have the highest instance of medical neglect in this country; Black Maternal Morbidity is an epidemic in the United States, so that is where our focus is today,” said Jade Kearney, Founder of SheMatters in a news release. “We look forward to expanding this focus to include the larger community with WeMatter as we move forward.”
According to a news release, the company will also change its name from SheMatters to WeMatter, to address the wider medical neglect in this country. Over the next two years, WeMatter will offer cultural competency certifications for Asian American women, Indigenous women, Hispanic women, LBGTQI+, Trans and marginalized heterosexual men.