🎙 Wanda Irving:
A Voice for Change, A Mother’s Mission
Wanda Irving will forever be Dr. Shalon’s mom — and more importantly, she has become a mother to a movement.
After losing her daughter, Dr. Shalon Irving, to preventable complications three weeks after childbirth, Wanda transformed grief into action. She founded Dr. Shalon’s Maternal Action Project™ (DSMAP) to carry forward her daughter’s vision for equity, accountability, and culturally safe care for all women.
Through national interviews, keynotes, and panels, Wanda challenges the dangerous myths and stereotypes surrounding maternal mortality. Too often, narratives around a mother’s death point to personal blame — suggesting she didn’t seek prenatal care, had preexisting conditions, or failed to follow medical advice. Wanda speaks the truth that so many overlook: Dr. Shalon did everything right. She had access, education, and expertise. She worked at the CDC, saw her maternal-fetal specialist seven times in three weeks, and was supported by a loving, educated family. Yet the system still failed her.
In every appearance, Wanda humanizes the statistics. She does not indict — she enlightens. She tells her daughter’s story with clarity and compassion, reminding us that what happened to Shalon was not an anomaly. It is a symptom of a broader failure in how we listen to, treat, and value Black women.
Her message is simple and urgent: We are failing mothers in the United States — especially Black mothers. And the only way forward is through accountability, compassion, and systems that listen, believe, and act.
Wanda’s voice has been featured on TEDMED, NPR, MSNBC, Good Morning America, and Health Affairs, as well as at medical conferences, congressional briefings, and maternal health summits nationwide. Whether speaking to policymakers, clinicians, or grieving families, Wanda’s words transcend data and policy. She brings people back to what’s real — love, loss, and the shared responsibility to make sure every mother survives and every child thrives.