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Morehouse School of Medicine's “Danforth Dialogues” features Executive Director of MSM Center for Maternal Health Equity Dr. Natalie Hernandez-Green

MSM President and CEO Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice and Dr. Hernandez-Green discuss the Center’s quest to reduce Black maternal mortality.

ATLANTA, GA – July 8, 2025 – Morehouse School of Medicine  (MSM) has released the July edition of its 2024 "Danforth Dialogues" podcast.  This episode features a compelling conversation between MSM President and CEO Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, and Dr. Hernandez-Green, Executive Director of MSM’s Center for Maternal Health Equity.

Dr. Hernandez-Green, originally from the South Bronx in New York City, holds degrees from Stony Brook University, Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and the University of South Florida.

“While we have been fortunate to have a number of prominent guests on Danforth Dialogues including former Centers for Disease Control Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, and others, it’s always special to have one of our own on the podcast,” said Dr. Montgomery Rice. “Under her leadership, the Center for Maternal Health Equity has grown from a $500,000 grant from the state of Georgia to over $20 million in grants and partnerships. Write down the name Dr. Natalie Hernandez-Green because you will be hearing a lot about her in the future.”

Dr. Hernandez-Green’s passion for healthcare equity began during her commute from South Bronx to Manhattan to attend the Trevor Day School where she noticed glaring disparities in health outcomes. “It was at that moment when I knew things were unjust and unfair because how could a 15-minute train ride from one neighborhood to another show stark inequities with people living longer on the West Side and dying younger where I lived which unfortunately happened to a lot of my family members,” Dr. Hernandez-Green said.

“I remember going to a doctor’s visit with my Mom and my Mom was trying to ask the doctor a question and they just shut her up and told her, ‘this is why all of you are always sick’ and I never got that quote out of my head and that’s when I begin to realize that the cause was what I would later know as the social determinants of health,” she said.

Upon joining Morehouse School of Medicine, Dr. Hernandez-Green secured seed funding from the University of Michigan, to work on maternal health issues and collected 600 surveys from women and completed 45 qualitative interviews with 60 percent of the women surveyed reporting experiencing mental health, perinatal mood or anxiety disorders. That work led to the Georgia grant and the formation of the Center.

“We have to recognize in this country that there’s a reason why there’s more chronic disease with Black and Brown women and they are the same challenges that we have when it comes to maternal health care, and that is access to care in general…and the opportunity to be involved with a healthcare provider when you decide to have a child so that you can get preconceptual counseling to help you to determine is this the ideal time for me, from a health perspective, to have a child,” said Dr. Montgomery Rice, a reproductive endocrinologist, fertility specialist and well-known women’s health expert.  

Dr. Hernandez-Green added, “people think only poorer Black women that are dying from pregnancy-related complications when we know it affects all women of all socioeconomic status….so Black mothers who are college-educated fare worse than white women who never finished high school. Black mothers in the wealthiest neighborhoods do worse than white women, Hispanic and Asian mothers in the poorest ones.”

Launched in 2022, “Danforth Dialogues” focuses on the leadership lessons from the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and their broader implication for society. Named after the historic Danforth Chapel on the Morehouse College campus, the podcast series features a cross-section of guests and topics.

To hear this edition of the podcast, click here.

For more information about the Danforth Dialogues leadership series, click here. 

To listen and subscribe to the Danforth Dialogues podcast, click here.

For more information about Morehouse School of Medicine, please visit MSM.edu.            

About Morehouse School of Medicine

Founded in 1975, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) is among the nation's leading educators of primary care physicians, biomedical scientists, and public health professionals. An independent and private historically-Black medical school, MSM was recognized by the Annals of Internal Medicine as the nation's number one medical school in fulfilling a social mission—the creation and advancement of health equity. Morehouse School of Medicine's faculty and alumni are noted for excellence in teaching, research, and public policy, as well as exceptional patient care. MSM is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award doctoral and master's degrees. To learn more about programs and donate today, please visit www.msm.edu or call 404-752-1500.

Contact

Jamille Bradfield
Morehouse School of Medicine
jbradfield@msm.edu