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Birth Kweens


Jul 19, 2018

Rene Fowlkes and Morgan Taylor of Black Infant Health in Los Angeles, CA join us to discuss the inequities in maternity care and health outcomes for black women and babies. Here’s what you’ll hear about in this episode:

Morgan’s Bio:

Morgan Ashley Taylor, MPA, is the Program supervisor for The Children’s Collective’s Black Infant Health Program. Morgan and her team work diligently to address both African American infant and maternal mortality in the Los Angeles Area by emphasizing social support, stress reduction and empowerment. Morgan is exceptionally passionate about addressing disparities and the inequities within communities of color. Previously, she worked as an Operations Manager at Action for Boston Community Development Inc., where she designed and implemented “Mom-Me First”, a support group to promote self-care for young mothers. This led Morgan to finding her calling in maternal and child health in addition to many life lessons that have come with raising her three-year-old daughter, Isis. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, Morgan went on to obtain her Master’s in Public Administration from the School of Public Service, at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.

Rene’s Bio:

Rene Fowlkes, BA, is a Group Facilitator for The Children’s Collective’s Black Infant Health Program. Rene facilitates the sister circles that focuses on social support, stress reduction and empowerment. She is originally from Boston, Ma where she has made her mark in the human services field for 15 years. Rene started her own therapeutic counseling Program, Be Heiressistible, in 2013.  The program provided mentoring, empowerment, and spiritual support for young women and moms. The program also served as a bridge between parent and child to address self-esteem, behavioral, educational, and sexual identity issues in an in-home therapy setting. Rene has also worked on the Michelle Obama “Let’s Move Campaign” in Boston, MA. She has a bachelor’s degree in human services. Rene finished her Bachelor’s degree in Human Services from Springfield College in Houston, Tx.  Rene now runs a blog called Little Fowlkes about her families transition from Houston, Tx  to Los Angeles due to Hurricane Harvey. The blog discusses the effects of parenting through poverty and other life altering situations. Rene is the mother of three boys and was able to have three successful natural births but not without complications. After Rene’s traumatic birth experiences she became a maternal health advocate and began to research the reasons behind the maternal health disparities in the black community.  She now is dedicated to educating and empowering other black moms to have healthy births and babies.

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