Black women face a maternal health crisis

One Essential Read

Recommended by Kate Turton, Newsletter Editor

Reproductive health advocates aim to raise awareness about health inequities

Sincere Porter, Naomi Desta-Bell, Habeebah Yasin and Kwajelyn Jackson, Atlanta, Georgia. September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

In the US, advocates are trying to use the upcoming presidential election as a moment to raise awareness about reproductive health inequities impacting Black women. These include higher rates of pregnancy and delivery complications and deaths, as well as higher rates of certain cancers.

Public opinion surveys rank inflation and the economy as top priorities for Black women, but Reuters spoke to 10 activist groups that said they were aiming to mobilize women of color around issues of systemic health care inequities.

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Behind the news

My colleagues Bianca Flowers and Disha Raychaudhuri were both moved by the experiences of the Black women they spoke to when reporting this story.

Bianca told me about Dr. Krystal Redman, the executive director of Spark Reproductive Justice NOW, and her birthing experience with her first child. "After being diagnosed with preeclampsia, she underwent an emergency C-section and delivered him prematurely. Three days later, her son required emergency surgery. She told me that despite her being very aware of the disparities and inequities Black women face in the healthcare system and being able to advocate for herself, she still felt ignored when she was trying to get information from the medical team about her son's condition."

Disha added that one particular datapoint stood out to her: "Black women are three times more likely than white women to die of pregnancy related causes, and this higher risk remains true no matter what method is used to calculate these rates. When you also consider the fact that most of these deaths are preventable, it really encapsulates the crisis that's been going on for such a long time."

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