black maternal death
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Kamala Harris Reintroduces Bill Addressing the Black Maternal Healthcare Crisis
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris reintroduced the Maternal Care Access and Reducing Emergencies (Maternal CARE) Act on Wednesday, her 2018 bill that seeks to address the ongoing black maternal health crisis. “Black mothers across the country are facing a health crisis that is driven in part by implicit bias in our health care system. We must…
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Save Our Moms: Lena Waithe Joins MTV and the Black Mamas Matter Alliance to Fight Black Maternal Mortality
Of the many ways in which the United States has long been considered a global leader, there is one which is deeply shameful. “In the past three decades in the U.S., the number of women who die from pregnancy-related complications has more than doubled,” says Lena Waithe, in a new PSA. “Over half of these…
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In the Face of the Black Maternal Mortality Crisis, This Doula Is Providing Expectant Mothers With the Support and Care They Desperately Deserve
The story has to be told in such a way where we’re not making people lose hope. text The specific “story” Chanel Porchia-Albert is referring to is that of the black maternal mortality crisis. She knows all about the daunting statistics surrounding black motherhood as a mother of six and the CEO of Ancient Song…
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Those Left Behind: Charles Johnson Wants to Support Families Reeling After Black Women Die in Childbirth
Because Kira Johnson was so amazing (she spoke five languages, skydived, raced cars), she has been the face of what many are now coming to see as a crisis in black maternal health. Kira Johnson put a face on what activists have known for years—that black women’s rates of death during or up to a…
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Black Maternal Health: When the Village Itself May Be Too Toxic
The recent intense media focus on high rates of maternal mortality in the U.S.—especially for African-American women—has been a mixed blessing. It has raised much-needed awareness about the rising rates of maternal deaths and disability happening during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Yet those startling statistics have added more stress and burden on women who absorb…
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It’s Becoming More Evident: The Stress of Racism Is Killing Our Babies…and Us
If A=B, and B=C, does A=C? Well, not always, but in the case of stress, racism and preterm birth, one researcher thinks there’s a definitive case to be made. The jarring statistics are already out there: African-American women are three to four times more likely to experience a pregnancy-related death than white women. Additionally, African-American…
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Why Giving Birth Is Deadly for Black Women … and Why It Might Get Worse
Mothers dying during pregnancy and childbirth is a crisis most Americans believe impacts only countries experiencing extreme poverty with shortages of food, health care providers, medicine, water and housing. Most people think of developing or war-torn nations where there are inadequate hospitals and little government infrastructure. But when it comes to maternal health and mortality…