ACES alum’s life work is saving mothers and babies
When Fleda Mask Jackson learned that Black women in the United States have worse pregnancy outcomes than white women regardless of education, income, and occupation, she embarked on a career path uncovering the root causes and creating pathways to support mothers and babies.
Jackson, a nationally recognized expert on maternal mental health, has spearheaded research on stress and depression as risk factors for pregnancy outcomes, and she has partnered with March of Dimes, United Way Healthy Start, and local and national health agencies to create safe spaces for pregnant women.
A two-time University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumna, she looks back at her college training as instrumental to her accomplishments.
“My background is in social sciences and education, and I never envisioned myself being in public health. But I have been doing this work for more than 25 years now,” she said.
Jackson received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and child development from Spelman College in Atlanta, then went on to earn her master’s degree in Child Development and Family Studies, now the Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at the U. of I.
Her path began to take shape when she learned about the health discrepancies facing Black women.
“In the late 1980s, there was a study showing that well-educated African American women had worse birth outcomes than their white counterparts. They also had worse outcomes than white women who lacked education, jobs, or health insurance. You would expect individuals in similar circumstances to be comparable, so this indicated it wasn’t just about poverty,” she said.
Jackson began researching the issue from a broader perspective beyond access to quality healthcare. She credits her training at the U. of I. with preparing her for this work.
“The instruction that I received from HDFS faculty who were anthropologists deepened my understanding of applying qualitative skills to observing individuals and families within their community. I learned how to be a participant observer, which gave me the tools to systematically unearth the lived experiences of African American families.”
Jackson became a professor of Applied Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, and she is president of Majaica, a research firm and think tank that specializes in improving conditions for Black mothers and babies.
Her research focuses on psychosocial stress as a factor for poor pregnancy and maternal outcomes. Stress can be the intersectional effect of racism and sexism, such as when Black women experience the distress of unjust police encounters for themselves, their children, and family members, or discrimination at work or in a business.
“High demands for the care and protection of oneself, family, and community in the presence of race and gender barriers can create physiological responses impacting the growth of the fetus and can result in premature birth, which is one of the leading causes of infant death. Stress is also a risk for maternal illness and death,” she stated.
Jackson seeks to mitigate that stress by ensuring women have the healthcare and resources they need, such as a place to stay and healthy food.
“I’ve helped to advance the understanding of mental health as a major factor in pregnancy and developed an instrument for measuring contextualized stress; stress from the lived experiences of African American women — inclusive of the detriment of racism and sexism — alongside culturally-informed resilience, resistance, and coping,” she said.
“And while I don't take credit for this, I'm delighted to see that screening for depression is now being done in pediatricians’ offices. That’s a time where you can catch the mother's attention, assess how she is doing, and refer her to the necessary resources.”
She has worked with United Way to establish a housing program for pregnant women who, for various reasons, found themselves without a home, perhaps because of instability in their relationship or family responses to their pregnancy. She also assisted the late U.S. Congressman John Lewis in advocating for expanding Medicaid after childbirth, and she served as a member of the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality.
Fleda’s husband of 50 years, Duane Jackson, passed away in April 2025. Duane was an animal behaviorist specializing in insect behavior. He also received his doctorate at the U. of I., and he was a professor at Morehouse College for more than35 years. Like Fleda, he was deeply involved in community engagement, serving as a curator for Zoo Atlanta and conducting educational workshops at Atlanta’s Outdoor Activity Center.
“Duane and I were true partners. I feel this is a moment in time to pass on the skills we’ve been given,” Fleda said. “The College of ACES and the University of Illinois were important for shaping who I am. My education there helped shape the work I've done, the partnerships I’ve made, and the impact that I hope I’ve had within the maternal and child health field and communities across the country. The U. of I. helped me feel that I could make a difference and be part of a larger movement needed for everybody to have their highest quality of life.”
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