Thank you to Wesley Bugg, for taking the time this Father’s Day to share about the organization he founded, called Reaching Our Brothers Everywhere (ROBE).
What is the goal of ROBE?
The goal of Reaching Our Brothers Everywhere is to provide men with culturally appropriate information and resources that allow them to more fully understand the dilemma of breastfeeding and birth disparities in order to impact maternal and infant mortality—especially in minority communities where the disparities are more prominent. It is a well-known that communities of color have been historically resource deprived when it comes to engagement in the process of eliminating disparities. We intend to alleviate misinformation in these communities so that fathers, brothers, uncles, mentors, pastors and community leaders have culturally competent language to understand and share the importance of breastfeeding and birth equity and are able to communicate this information and knowledge to others in the community.
How does supporting dads improve birth equity?
ROBE’s support of fathers is to educate, equip and empower men to impact the increase of breastfeeding initiation and duration and decrease maternal and infant morbidity and mortality in disproportionately disenfranchised communities. Knowledge is power, power not to be held on to but to be shared. Men can bring significant relief from anxiety to a woman’s birth experience. Creating positive, culturally based opportunities for fathers to be involved with birth process allows them to be heard and provides for less family stress. Our equation is Stress= Demand – Resources.
How does the funding from HealthConnect One’s Birth Equity Leadership Academy (BELA) help you reach project goals?
Funding from HealthConnect One has been a game changer. This funding has allowed us to become visible in the community to get our message out. We have participated in male oriented projects in Louisiana, Oklahoma, California, Colorado, Ohio and Georgia.
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Wesley Bugg, is a BELA Leader and he serves ROSE as their Financial and Legal Operations Coordinator.