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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Prince George's County Black Maternal Health Equity Task Force First Meeting - October 8, 2026

County Council & Boards — Thursday, October 8, 2026

BodyPrince Georges County, Maryland

SessionCounty Council & Boards

DateThursday, October 8, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:00:09

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

Good evening, everyone.

0:02

Thank you for joining our Black Maternal Health Equity Task Force.

0:06

This is our first meeting.

0:09

This will be a 12 month task force.

0:13

And today our agenda is as follows.

0:20

Before we get into the gen uh the agenda, I will ask the chair to call this meeting to order and grace us with an opening remarks.

Speaker 2

0:35

Thank you.

0:36

And thank you, everyone that is joining us for this maternal health task force.

0:42

Those that might not know me, I'm councilwoman Crystal Oyeva.

0:45

I have the pleasure of representing District 7 and the pleasure of also serving as the chair of the council this year.

0:56

Especially when we talk about Black maternal health.

0:59

Many know my story.

1:00

I'm a I would say newish mom now because my son will be three this month.

1:06

But as I navigated that experience, so many things came to life.

1:10

And I started to look at the numbers, not just for Prince George's County, but the state and this country.

1:17

And I realized that there's an opportunity for us in Prince Rhodes County where in the state we're one of the worst places for a black woman to give birth, but we can change that narrative and be the example around the country.

1:33

And that's my hope.

1:34

But to do that, it's going to take bringing all the stakeholders to the table.

1:39

It's going to take strategic planning.

1:41

It's going to take investment of dollars, policy shift and change.

1:46

And my hope is that as we continue to bring stakeholders to the table, that we can have the important conversations and we can make the major shifts.

1:56

And so I thank everyone for their participation.

1:58

I thank the staff for the work they're going to do in keeping us on task and getting a report out to the full body.

2:06

I apologize that I won't be able to stay for the entirety of our first meeting.

2:11

But it was important for me to come on and welcome everyone to this important uh task force.

2:17

And I look forward to working with you.

2:20

Thank you.

Speaker 1

2:21

Awesome.

2:21

Thank you for those opening remarks.

2:24

Before we do roll call, I'll provide some opening remarks.

2:28

But just so you all know, we're going to conduct roll call, and then I'll have each of the task force members do an introduction after we complete roll call.

2:39

But I did want to just provide some opening remarks.

2:43

I am Luke Keys.

2:44

I am the coordinator for this task force.

2:47

I am a community health advisor with Prince George's County County Council.

2:53

And Anya originally presented this opportunity to coordinate this task force.

3:01

And this is work that is personal for me.

3:06

I think and reflect back on when my daughter was born.

3:12

And even just leading up to that, my my wife and I having conversations, you know, all the horror stories that you see on Instagram and TikTok and all the anxiety that goes into bringing new life into this world.

3:28

And rightfully so in a lot of cases.

3:41

We were probably in every doctor's office visit for 30 longer, 30 minutes longer than we were supposed to be because we always had all the questions to ask.

3:49

Watched all the videos, drank all the okra water, drank, you know, she did everything possible.

3:56

And I can just vividly remember the feeling of being in the hospital and getting to the point where our daughter was almost here and just thinking there's nothing else that her and I can do anymore for the most part.

4:09

We have to, you know, put our trust into these doctors and nurses' hands.

4:14

And that's a scary feeling, especially when historically these systems are not worthy of that trust in a lot of examples.

4:26

And so I truly believe uh what chair had had shared is you know, there's a lot of scary stories.

4:36

And these recommendations hopefully will be the foundation for how can we help to create a system that is worthy of Black Mothers' Trust.

4:46

And ultimately, we had that opportunity in this county uh with leadership at the very top.

Unassigned speaker

4:54

Um we have amazing doctors, nurses, hospital systems.

Speaker 1

5:00

And so I'm really uh grateful to be a part of this group.

5:05

Um more than anything, my role is going to be to try to bring all the right voices together, ask the right questions, listen, and then help turn lived experiences, evidence, and expertise into recommendations.

5:20

And with that um the responsibility of this work um does fall on us as a task force, but ultimately we only play one small part in the work that needs to be done.

5:38

Uh so uh I think it it is very valuable that we have perspectives from a multitude of people in the county.

5:51

So we have healthcare on today, we have uh doulas on today, we have mothers that are joining us.

5:58

Um, and obviously uh you all have multiple um multiple pieces and perspectives that are going to inform this work.

6:10

So more than anything, just want to start off by just sharing that you know, this is something that I'm considering not just for my wife when we decide to have more kids, but also thinking about my daughter and when it's time for her to be a mother if she so chooses, what we want Prince George's County to look like.

6:28

And that is that is why I'm I'm very passionate about this work.

6:32

So thank you all again.

6:34

And uh I will pass it off to Rhonda, who's gonna be conducting our roll call.

6:39

After we complete roll call, we will do introductions.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Maternal Health█████████████████████████████████████████████53%

Procedural██████████████17%

Public Health██████████████16%

Community Engagement█████████11%

Mental Health Awareness███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Prince George's County Black Maternal Health Equity Task Force First Meeting - October 8, 2026

Note on meeting time: The provided meeting timestamp was 14:00 UTC, but the transcript indicates the meeting started at 7:00 PM Eastern Time ("Good evening") and adjourned at 7:59 PM, suggesting a discrepancy. The summary uses the date from the prompt (October 8, 2026) and the time reflected in the transcript.

The Prince George's County Black Maternal Health Equity Task Force held its inaugural meeting on October 8, 2026. The 12-month task force, established by County Council legislation CR 99-2025, is charged with examining Black maternal health challenges, disparities, systems, and opportunities in Prince George's County, and developing recommendations for the County Council, State Health Department, and state legislature. The meeting included opening remarks, roll call, a governance review, a presentation on the maternal health landscape, a 12-month roadmap presentation, and a discussion period.

Opening Remarks & Roll Call

Councilwoman Crystal Oyeva (Chair, District 7) opened the meeting, sharing her personal experience as a mother and emphasizing that Prince George's County is one of the worst places in the state for Black women to give birth, but has the opportunity to become a national model through stakeholder collaboration, strategic planning, investment, and policy change.
Luke Keys, task force coordinator and community health advisor, welcomed members and stressed the goal of creating a system worthy of Black mothers' trust.
Roll call confirmed five members present: Dr. Charmaine Ivy, Joel Walker, Dr. Diane Young, Jaina Ziggler, and one additional member (total nine authorized positions). A quorum (50%+1) was declared.

Governance & Procedures

Kathy Canning, County Council attorney, reviewed task force governance: quorum requires a majority of authorized members (5 of 9), voting follows Robert's Rules of Order and Council rules, and work groups are subject to public meeting requirements.
Mr. Keys clarified that motions (e.g., adjournment) require a member to move and a second.

Maternal Health Landscape Presentation (Dr. Diane Young)

Dr. Young, Division Director for Family Health Services at the Prince George's County Health Department and adjunct professor at George Washington University, presented an overview of Black maternal health in the county.
Pregnancy-related deaths (2016-2020): 11 deaths, all among Black women. (County cannot report per 100,000 due to low birth numbers.)
Pregnancy-associated deaths: 16 deaths in the last reporting cycle (cause unspecified).
Prenatal care (2022): ~10,500 births; nearly half received first-trimester care, another third in the second trimester, smaller numbers in the third trimester, and a small percentage received no prenatal care. Entry into prenatal care by race/ethnicity: highest among Latino women, followed by African American, Asian, and White women.
Social determinants driving disparities: Systemic factors (policies, racial bias, historical inequities), community factors (safety—homicide is a leading cause of maternal death—transportation, food deserts, social support), provider factors (implicit bias, microaggressions, cultural competency), and individual factors (employment, stable housing, education, health literacy).
Positive outcome: The Health Department's Healthy Beginnings postpartum home visiting program (partnered with University of Maryland Capital Regional Center) reported zero readmissions in 2025 and 2026 year-to-date among high-risk women. Dr. Young advocated for funding to expand this program.

12-Month Roadmap (Luke Keys)

The task force will use a socio-ecological model (SEM) to examine maternal health at policy/structural, healthcare system/organizational, community, interpersonal, and individual levels.
First half (through March 2027): Focus on policy, systems, and organizations, with mid-year recommendations aligned with the County Executive's budget release (March) and state legislative calendar.
Second half (April–October 2027): Focus on community, interpersonal, and individual levels, culminating in a cross-level synthesis and final report/recommendations.
Subgroups (proposed): Academic & Student; Healthcare & Maternal Health Workforce; Community & Implementation Partners; Black Mothers, Families & Lived Experience. Subgroups will convene quarterly and inform task force discussions. Members were asked to rank subgroup preferences via a follow-up form.
Recommendation framework: Recommendations will identify what should change, responsible parties (county, state, institutional, community, regional), resources/authority needed, timeline (0-6 months, 6 months-2 years, 2-10 years), and measures of success (SMART goals). Emphasis on co-design with implementers and affected communities.

Discussion on Key Issues & Opportunities

Postpartum support: Joel Walker (older care specialist and doula) emphasized the need for more postpartum doula support accessible to Prince George's County residents, noting that many clients are in Northern Virginia/DC.
Doula professionalization: Dr. Young noted her research on professionalizing doulas to make them accessible beyond Medicaid or self-pay, and ongoing efforts with legislators.
Medicaid postpartum coverage: Clarified that Medicaid covers four months postpartum, but a full year is needed.
Social determinants: Kelly Robinson (nurse midwife and researcher) stressed addressing non-clinical factors like wraparound services and social support.
Transportation: Mr. Keys noted transportation barriers to appointments, with qualifying distances from public transit often excluding mothers.
Mental health: Dr. Young cited a study in DC where 48% of women referred to mental health services were not connected to care; access does not guarantee actual care. Jaina Ziggler (doula) highlighted the need for mental health awareness and available services for mothers.
Data, research, and collaboration: Dr. Young suggested including George Washington University's Center of Excellence and Bowie State University. Mr. Keys emphasized including smaller community organizations with direct client relationships.
Other themes: Birth outcomes other than live births (e.g., impact on mothers and families) were mentioned.

Key Outcomes

Quorum and official business: A quorum of five members was present; the meeting proceeded with official business.
Governance and procedures: Adopted Robert's Rules of Order and Council rules; quorum and voting rules established.
Presentation and roadmap: Dr. Young's landscape overview and the 12-month roadmap were received without formal vote but formed the basis for future work.
Next steps: Meeting summary/minutes to be sent by end of week (October 10, 2026). A form will be emailed next week to gather member perspectives and subgroup interests. The academic/student subgroup may convene before the next full meeting.
Next meeting: November 4, 2026, at 7:00 PM, focusing on evidence, county landscape, and existing programs.
Adjournment: Motion made and seconded; meeting adjourned at 7:59 PM Eastern Time.

Closing remarks: Mr. Keys noted that eight out of ten mothers in Prince George's County leave the county to give birth—a statistic the task force will examine—and expressed confidence that the county can create a new standard for Black maternal health.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining our Black Maternal Health Equity Task Force. This is our first meeting. This will be a 12 month task force. And today our agenda is as follows. Before we get into the gen uh the agenda, I will ask the chair to call this meeting to order and grace us with an opening remarks. Thank you. And thank you, everyone that is joining us for this maternal health task force. Those that might not know me, I'm councilwoman Crystal Oyeva. I have the pleasure of representing District 7 and the pleasure of also serving as the chair of the council this year. Especially when we talk about Black maternal health. Many know my story. I'm a I would say newish mom now because my son will be three this month. But as I navigated that experience, so many things came to life. And I started to look at the numbers, not just for Prince George's County, but the state and this country. And I realized that there's an opportunity for us in Prince Rhodes County where in the state we're one of the worst places for a black woman to give birth, but we can change that narrative and be the example around the country. And that's my hope. But to do that, it's going to take bringing all the stakeholders to the table. It's going to take strategic planning. It's going to take investment of dollars, policy shift and change. And my hope is that as we continue to bring stakeholders to the table, that we can have the important conversations and we can make the major shifts. And so I thank everyone for their participation. I thank the staff for the work they're going to do in keeping us on task and getting a report out to the full body. I apologize that I won't be able to stay for the entirety of our first meeting. But it was important for me to come on and welcome everyone to this important uh task force. And I look forward to working with you. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you for those opening remarks. Before we do roll call, I'll provide some opening remarks. But just so you all know, we're going to conduct roll call, and then I'll have each of the task force members do an introduction after we complete roll call. But I did want to just provide some opening remarks. I am Luke Keys. I am the coordinator for this task force. I am a community health advisor with Prince George's County County Council. And Anya originally presented this opportunity to coordinate this task force. And this is work that is personal for me. I think and reflect back on when my daughter was born. And even just leading up to that, my my wife and I having conversations, you know, all the horror stories that you see on Instagram and TikTok and all the anxiety that goes into bringing new life into this world. And rightfully so in a lot of cases. We were probably in every doctor's office visit for 30 longer, 30 minutes longer than we were supposed to be because we always had all the questions to ask. Watched all the videos, drank all the okra water, drank, you know, she did everything possible. And I can just vividly remember the feeling of being in the hospital and getting to the point where our daughter was almost here and just thinking there's nothing else that her and I can do anymore for the most part. We have to, you know, put our trust into these doctors and nurses' hands. And that's a scary feeling, especially when historically these systems are not worthy of that trust in a lot of examples. And so I truly believe uh what chair had had shared is you know, there's a lot of scary stories. And these recommendations hopefully will be the foundation for how can we help to create a system that is worthy of Black Mothers' Trust. And ultimately, we had that opportunity in this county uh with leadership at the very top. Um we have amazing doctors, nurses, hospital systems. And so I'm really uh grateful to be a part of this group.

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