Teneele M. Bruce

Background

About Teneele M. Bruce

Teneele Bruce is a south Jersey girl, living and working in a Maryland world as a Maternal Health Professional who is dedicated to eliminating maternal and child health disparities experienced by Black women, children, and families. She currently serves as a Maternal Health Coordinator with Baltimore Healthy Start, co-host of the BHS podcast,"Come to the Well," and has been a team member on several grant-funded projects such as the Merck for Mothers Safer Childbirth Cities Initiative- aiding in lessening the burden of maternal mortality and morbidity in the city of Baltimore. She has facilitated and led qualitative research work with patients in order to understand their experiences giving birth in Baltimore City hospitals, and how patient narratives can contribute to hospital quality improvement processes in the delivery of maternity care. Mrs. Bruce has over 15 years of collective professional experience and 6 years of experience serving in progressively responsible roles in the field of maternal and child health, including but not limited to: community birth work as a doula, nonprofit leadership, and policy work centering birth equity and reproductive health in the state of Maryland. Currently, she sits on the Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) committee and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) with the Baltimore City Health Department. Mrs. Bruce is also a key partner with MDMOM and its work with city and statewide home visiting programs and community providers via the EMPOWER Moms Initiative, which provides urgent maternal warning signs education and resources to pregnant and postpartum women. She has written, presented, and spoken openly about the importance of diversifying the practices of community birth work and midwifery in order to make maternity care more equitable and culturally congruent, and mitigate the social determinants that contribute to poor birth outcomes in BIPOC populations. Mrs. Bruce possesses her Bachelor's degree in Biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and Master's degree in Biomedical Science from Rowan University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (formerly UMDNJ-GSBS). Strengths that Teneele possess are: Direct Patient Care, Qualitative Research, Data Management and Evaluation Systems, Health Education, Recruitment and Retention, Program Management and Facilitation, Health Advocacy, Stakeholder Engagement, and Strategic Planning. Teneele endeavors to change the world through education and empowerment.