This photo essay follows Doula Bree Spence throughout her community. Belle Glade is a rural community near Lake Okeechobee that is considered a maternity care desert. Along with lack of medical providers, the community faces food insecurity and air pollution. Spence and other community partners are working to combat these issues.
Spence (left) greets Dr. Jinga Oglesby-Brihm (right) at her tent in the Glades Festival of Afro Arts. Empower Healthcare offers accessible health services to women and birthing people in Belle Glade. “Most of the women that we serve are below the federal poverty level,” says Dr. Jinga Oglesby-Brihm. “We meet the women where they are.” Poor women in remote areas are the least likely to receive adequate health care, according to the World Health Organization. Factors such as income, race , gender, climate and health system failures can prevent women from seeking prenatal care. Key players in the community are working together in the fight against maternal mortality. BRIDGES is a non-profit organization that connects local families to resources. A local grocery store in Belle Glade – a food desert – is out of baby formula. Spence learns she can monitor air quality levels on her phone. Belle Glade, she discovered, had worse air quality than California during the wildfires in January. Women with higher levels of exposure to nitrogen dioxide during weeks 13 to 29 of pregnancy faced a 3.86 times higher risk of postpartum depression for up to three years, according to the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Due to sugar cane harvesting practices in Belle Glade, many residents are faced with air pollution. According to the National Institutes of Health, 2.5 South Floridians die annually as a result of air pollution. Glades General Hospital served residents for more than 40 years before shutting down in 2009. It was replaced with Lakeside Medical Center. Lakeside Medical Center is the nearest hospital in Belle Glade and it doesn’t have a delivery unit. Residents who want to deliver their babies in a hospital must commute up to 60 minutes to give birth. Spence hopes to someday travel to Tallahassee alongside local city officials to advocate for maternal health.
To watch the accompanying documentary, click here. To listen to the accompanying audio story, click here.
Heidi is a junior at Florida International University majoring in Digital Communication and Media. She is interested in culture and aims to tell stories that speak to the human connection and experience. In the future, she hopes to work in the entertainment field, storytelling through visual art and music.
Chloe Barnett is a junior majoring in Digital Broadcasting and Anthropology. After she graduates, she hopes to pursue a career as a documentary filmmaker and anthropologist.
Kelly Sanchez is a senior majoring in Digital Journalism with a minor in Art. She has an interest in local news. When Kelly isn’t reporting, she enjoys creative writing and photography.
