Trust Black Women: Listen to us about our reproductive lives

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective (SisterSong) and Ibis Reproductive Health (Ibis) proposed a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study to explore Black women’s perspectives on reproductive health relative to their geographic context and the range of factors that influence their reproductive health decision making.
Our specific aims were to: 1) Describe the current reproductive health concerns of Black women; 2) Understand the range of factors influencing Black women’s reproductive health decision-making; and 3) Generate strategies for engaging communities of Black women on reproductive health issues.

Over an 18-month period, we implemented a series of activities aligned with a CBPR approach. This began with concentrated efforts to develop principles of engagement for both organizations, creating a research protocol and accompanying data collection instruments, and identifying and inviting Black women to participate in a Research Board. We then worked with two community organizations to conduct six focus group discussions and 25 in-depth interviews.