CHICAGO (WLS) — Friday was the first day of Black Maternal Health Week.

One Chicago woman is using dance to close the gap on the disparities Black women face during and after pregnancy.

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Kemeera Nimahat is the CEO of Mamma Jamma Dance & Maternal Wellness.

“My movements are designed to help balance muscles and tissues, help create space in the body,” Nimahat said.

The Mamma Jamma dance class intentionally crafts moves with a pregnant and postpartum body in mind.

“I feel like it keeps me going like, I’m still myself at the same time as I’m carrying another human being,” dance client Ameri Reese Jelani said.

Led by doula and dance teacher, kemeera nimahat, the classes are taught virtually and in person to help rewrite what it means to be a black mom.

“How we feel throughout our pregnancies absolutely translates into our children,” Nimahat said. “There is a lot of trauma that is stored in our hips and in our womb space. And in my method, we are unlocking those things and beginning to release those things.”

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According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Black women in the state are three times more likely to die during pregnancy and six times more likely to die a year after giving birth. But at Ingalls Hospital, the trauma stops at the door.

“These are oftentimes very expensive classes for our population, and we’re talking about sometimes people have to decide if they’re going to keep the lights on or food on the table,” said Shanice Williams, who runs the Healthy Baby Network for the UChicago Medicine Ingalls Hospital.

Williams said each class can cost an average of $50-60. Her partnership with Mamma Jamma allows moms to take two classes for free and walk away with even more.

After the moms finish dancing, they walk away with a goodie backpack, with things like children’s books, shampoo, diapers, and it even opens up to a changing pad for moms on the go.

“Walking into a system that knows that my physician looks like me, their team looks like me, that creates a different level of comfort,” Williams said.

The classes are giving space and permission for moms to be nothing more than themselves as they embark on a new chapter of their lives with joy.

The celebration doesn’t plan on stopping in Chicago.

“My ultimate dream is for Mamma Jamma Dance to be global,” Nimahat said. “My dream is for every person that I encounter to be left better because they met me.”

More information about Mamma Jamma Dance & Maternal Wellness can be found on their website.