Black Maternal Health Week 2022 | Expectful & Johnson's Baby Team Up With 700 Free Subscriptions to the App

In observance of Black Maternal Health Week, Expectful is stepping up with Johnson’s Baby to give out 700 free annual subscriptions to our app to new, expecting, and hopeful Black mothers, offering more women critical access to mindful care she deserves (and scientifically and statistically needs!) during the trying to conceive, pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood stages.

Expectful & Johnson’s Baby Team Up With 700 Free Expectful Subscriptions

The partnership makes sense – Johnson’s Baby aims to provide babies with the healthiest, happiest start in life. Expectful aims to provide mothers and mothers-to-be the healthiest, happiest journey through motherhood. You really can’t have one without the other. We hope to bring our offerings together to support this relationship between mom & baby with scientifically proven ways to decrease stress and anxiety and promote a thriving environment for everyone going through this parenthood adventure.

And the timing of this partnership might be the most significant part of this offering: Black Maternal Health Week 2022. At Expectful, we’ve always consciously tried to provide our Black Mamas with resources and guidance to help them navigate a system that notoriously suppresses Black voices, validation, and access to care. Through the partnership, Johnson’s Baby will donate the 700 annual Expectful subscriptions to new, expecting, and hopeful Black mothers based on the estimated number of women who die in the U.S. each year from a wide array of maternal health issues, the majority of which are Black women.

Nathalie Walton, CEO and Co-founder of Expectful commented, “We’re thrilled to partner with Johnson’s Baby to kick off this special initiative which begins during Black Maternal Health Week. It’s always been my top priority to help mothers, especially Black mothers, who tend to face disadvantageous circumstances at a much higher rate due to maternal health issues. An estimated 700 women die each year in the U.S. from maternal health related causes, and the majority of them are Black women. We are so grateful that Johnson’s Baby is partnering with us to donate 700 annual Expectful subscriptions to new, expecting, and hopeful Black mothers. We hope that through this partnership we can contribute to saving lives.”

How Can a Subscription to Expectful Actually Help Women of Color During Motherhood?

It’s a good question, really. Can an app on your phone really make an impact on your health? First, it’s important to understand where we’re coming from…

After CEO and Co-founder Nathalie Walton experienced her own high-risk pregnancy as a Black mother, it became her and Expectful’s mission to provide holistic health and mindfulness resources with a focus on women, especially women of color.

Read Nathalie’s full journey to Expectful here.

There is an ongoing maternal mental health crisis, and up to 40% of patients report depression or anxiety symptoms in pregnancy, while feelings of increased stress are nearly universal. Antepartum stress is linked to adverse outcomes, including preterm birth, low birth weight, postpartum depression, and maternal self-harm. Unfortunately, limited treatment options exist, and patients are often hesitant to initiate medications prenatally. Furthermore, Black mothers are 3–4 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications (and are more likely to have pregnancy complications) than white women.

But that subscription to Expectful? Can it directly help? The answer is without question and backed by science: Yes.

Expectful “represent(s) an important low-intervention, low-cost, highly accessible tool for managing perinatal mood and stress, according to new research published in the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health. With this partnership, Johnson’s Baby and Expectful will deliver a research-backed tool to at-risk women in need in honor of Black Maternal Health Week in 2022.

“We’re so excited to partner with Expectful for Black Maternal Health Week this year to ensure Black moms have access to resources that help support healthy pregnancy. On average, Black mothers experience more pregnancy complications than mothers of other races. At Johnson’s Baby, we believe that mom’s health is just as important as Baby’s health and it is a critical piece of baby’s healthy development. Expectful’s mission to provide mothers with holistic support and resources is closely aligned to what is important to us at Johnson’s Baby. ” says Ese Awoniyi of Johnson’s Baby.

Get a Free Annual Subscription to Expectful for Black Maternal Health Week 2022

Those wanting to be considered can apply at expectful.com/helping-hands, and selected recipients will be informed starting on April 11, 2022 throughout the year or until the 700 subscriptions have been gifted.

Expectful Content to Try First

Once in the app, you’ll find a nearly endless library of meditations, sleep stories, events, courses, articles, resources, support groups, and interviews that speak to the exact moment of the motherhood journey you find yourself in, from fertility and trying, through pregnancy and motherhood. However, we’ve tried to go even deeper for our Black Mamas, providing them with specific content that speaks honestly, candidly, and from experience about the unique experiences they face. Here are a few resources we suggest you check out in the app:

Black Mamas Meditate Collection

This is a custom meditation collection on the Expectful app is made for Black Mothers by Black Mothers. It’s indisputable that Black women face an entirely different set of challenges than other pregnant women, from systemic inequities to health conditions. That’s why we created a meditation pack specifically for these challenges, addressing the critical needs of black women during the motherhood journey. Let us assure you, what you are feeling is valid, and you are certainly not alone.

Listen to the Black Mamas Meditate Collection here.

How to Beat the Bias Course

It’s one thing to simply discuss the lack of support and accessible care for Black mothers navigating pregnancy and postpartum; it’s another to provide resources that actually help them thrive. Expectful CEO and Co-Founder, Nathalie Walton, sits down with Kimberly Seals Allers, Founder of The Irth App, Maternal Health Advocate, and creator/host of the Birthright Podcast, to go beyond the scope of what we see and feel, and dig into ways the listener can be and do. By sharing online resources, lived advice, and proven self-advocacy practices, this course aims to improve the motherhood experience of Black women.

Download the App for Even More Content

While we have specific content that speaks directly to the journey of a Black Mother, we have a vast selection of content that can still directly help you as a mom or mom-to-be. With your free annual membership, we hope you explore the full spectrum of scientifically-backed support on the app, from meditations to fitness, that will help you feel empowered, confident, healthy & happy on your journey to Mama.