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The National Disgrace of Maternal Mortality

NNPA NEWSWIRE — “The United States bears the worrying distinction as “deadliest nation” in the industrialized or “developed world” to be pregnant,” said Dr. Michele Bratcher Goodwin in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in June 2023. “Nationwide, as noted by Justice Breyer, “childbirth is 14 times more likely than abortion to result in death.”
The post The National Disgrace of Maternal Mortality first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

3 years ago

May 31, 2023

Oakland Post

By Barrington M. Salmon | NNPA Newswire

The National Center for Health Statistics released data several months ago showing that maternal deaths in the United States spiraled to the highest rate in almost nearly 60 years, data showed, worsening a health trend that has cemented America as one of the most dangerous industrialized countries for a woman to give birth.

“The United States bears the worrying distinction as “deadliest nation” in the industrialized or “developed world” to be pregnant,” said Dr. Michele Bratcher Goodwin in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in June 2023. “Nationwide, as noted by Justice Breyer, “childbirth is 14 times more likely than abortion to result in death.” As reported by Nina Martin and Renee Montagne, “[m]ore American women are dying of pregnancy-related complications than any other developed country.” In fact, “[o]nly in the U.S. has the rate of women who die been rising.”

In fact, said Bratcher, an author, advocate and Abraham Pinanski, Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, “a review of data collected by the United States Central Intelligence Agency provides evidence that it is safer to be pregnant and give birth in Iran, Tajikistan, and Bahrain than in the United States … In Mississippi, a woman is 118 times more likely to die by carrying a pregnancy to term than by having an abortion. According to the Mississippi Maternal Mortality Report, Black women accounted for “nearly 80% of pregnancy-related cardiac deaths” in that state.”

For Black women, the dangers they face while pregnant are dire. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2021, the maternal mortality rates for Black women were significantly higher than the rates for White and Hispanic women. Stats show that Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women in America.

Suzanne Wertman, state government affairs consultant with the American College of Nurse Midwives, said she’s not at all surprised at the troubling increase in the rate and numbers but said there’s one aspect that really leaves her aghast.

“What surprises me is that there’s not enough political will and that this is not at a tipping point,” said Wertman, a vocal advocate for midwifery, reproductive health and a woman’s right to control her bodily autonomy. “The conversation still centers around older mothers and obesity. They always focus on the woman and not the system. What’s interesting to me as a midwife is that the mainstream media talks to physicians, not midwives.”

Any attempt to substantially reduce maternal mortality generally, and Black maternal mortality in particular, has to confront and shatter the scourges of structural and institutional racism and sexism, Wertman said.

“We need to have universal pregnancy care,” said Wertman. “We need serious investment in maternal health, universal care and more midwives. What we have is ‘too little too late’ and ‘two much too soon.’”

Wertman – who has more than 20 years’ experience providing midwifery care to a range of people in public, private and non-profit spaces – said COVID-19 hurdled everyone into crisis mode and added another layer of stress on an already stressful situation for organized medicine and organizations, hospitals and health groups. Other experts and observers note that COVID-19 exposed the structural inequities in the healthcare industry and other segments of the American economy.

Dr. Kevin Scott Smith, Department Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Alameda Health System, is engaged in the same battle Wertzman is from a different angle and place. He, like Wertzman, sees racism and race-based health disparities as key factors driving the Black maternal mortality crisis in the United States.

“It’s a bigger challenge than just COVID. COVID is a variable, and racism is a variable to COVID. There are some interrelated links between both,” said Smith. “What I will tell you is I am spending most of my time fighting obstetric racism. I am hopeful that these efforts will have some impacts. Rather than expecting outcomes, I am concerned about data.”

“Obstetric racism represents the cause for the racial disparities in Black maternal health. It has been declared by most medical bodies. It’s not one race driving these racial disparities. It’s more systemic for sure.”

Smith said he believes that if you remove all of the previously attributable causes for Black maternal mortality such as access to care, lack of education and poverty … you’re left with one root cause and that’s racism.

It’s tragic, it’s tragic,” said Smith, sighing deeply.

Often, when people look at numbers, it’s easy to forget that each data point represents a woman, flesh and blood, a human being. Kendra Davenport Cotton is the face behind those numbers, a woman and mother who but for the grace of God would have become a statistic.

“I’m talking as a person who has had scares,” said Cotton, chief executive officer for the New Georgia Project and New Georgia Project Action Fund. “I have children who are 21, 18 and 15. When they were younger, I had a pregnancy that was not viable. I went to my OB-GYN’s office and literally almost hemorrhaged to death. I started bleeding. It looked like a murder occurred.

Cotton said her doctor told her he couldn’t do a D&C.

“I was in Durham, North Carolina. I’m educated with an advanced degree. I had a blighted ovum. I was at eight weeks when I found out,” said Cotton, who said her children were 7, 4 and a year old when she experienced this health crisis. “I ended up having a medical abortion and a D&C. I wouldn’t have been able to do that under current circumstances. If I was in rural area, I’d be dead.”

Cotton said when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, Georgia’s Republican lawmakers quickly reinstated the Peach State’s six-week abortion ban.

“Most women don’t even know they’re pregnant at six weeks. The 6-week ban has calcified things and is causing all types of health problems,” she said. “Women in similar circumstances now would have to go before a board which would convene to ensure appropriate safeguards for hospitals and doctors.”

“Women would be sent home with non-viable pregnancies.”

Cotton said priority choices, underfunding and disinvestment by Georgia’s elected officials are crippling women’s effort to have access to reproductive care.

“There’s underfunding here in Georgia. There are lots of rural hospital closures which are negatively affecting Black maternity health,” said Cotton, who served as the campaign manager for Teresa Tomlinson in her US Senate race and was founding executive director of Rep GA Institute, Inc. “It’s happening in places where schisms of haves and have-nots is particularly acute.”

Cotton said some people have to drive 70 to 100 miles to get to an OB-GYN. She said Georgia has been hit hard, citing the fact that Georgia government officials implemented Medicare after decade.

“This is top neglect of the governor and the legislature. Show me your budget, I’ll show you priorities,” she said. “Black women are underpaid and they’re living in areas under-represented and the government underfunds the basis infrastructure.”

These actions have been deeply challenging and perplexing for those people public officials purport to represent.

“We’re in a conundrum right now because public policy in Southern states is hard. There are systemic forces in place designed to oppress people in the margins,” said Cotton.

She said less than half of Georgia’s 159 counties has an OB-GYN, one of Atlanta’s two trauma hospitals have closed and grassroots organizations were not notified. She said residents and activists have been fighting back by taking to the streets but acknowledged that it’s been an uphill battle.

“You can treat healthcare like we treat retail. Throwing up urgent care will not do much. You’re playing with people’s lives,” Cotton said. “(What they’re doing) may be deliberate but regular folks and poor folks will and are suffering.”

Smith, who stood up a care modeling program called Beloved Births Black Centering, said in his role as chairman of midwifery, he doesn’t rely on magic.

“Actual measurements are moved to that end,” he said. “This particular model capitalizes on the centering of the prenatal care model, pre-birth weight, group prenatal care for and by Black people. We have Black midwives, doulas, caseworkers and Black physical fitness trainers. We provide wraparound care – a gold package of Black love.”

Smith serves on the advisory board of the African American Well Project, an organization led by Dr. Mike LeNoir whose goal is to create health equity in America’s healthcare ecosystem. He said he and his team were able to kick off Beloved Blacks Birthing Center during the COVID-19 global pandemic. He describes the program as a safety net providing care to Black, brown and other women.

“We’re seeing evidence of the program’s success. It is evidence-based care. It potentially could be the opt-out model while we address obstetric racism,” he said.

Wertzman said there are several solutions to this crisis.

“Policymakers understand that so many issues we face could be solved by investing in reproductive justice,” she said. “Women should be allowed to have babies if they want to.”

She said government officials, policymakers and others should also invest in midwifery by removing regulatory restrictions and other disincentives such as midwives being paid less for the same services.

“They need to reimburse equity – equal pay for equal work. It’s crazy how little is spent on births. Preventative consequences could be changed ensuring that people get care when and how they need it,” she said.

Wertzman said some other solutions are creating free-standing birth centers that offer pre-natal and natal care; integrating midwives more fully into the healthcare system to ensure a higher level of care; redistributing funds; and spending more money on those on the frontlines.”

The post The National Disgrace of Maternal Mortality first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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A Nation in Freefall While the Powerful Feast: Trump Calls Affordability a ‘Con Job’

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — There are seasons in this country when the struggle of ordinary Americans is not merely a condition but a kind of weather that settles over everything.

Published

3 weeks ago

December 3, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

There are seasons in this country when the struggle of ordinary Americans is not merely a condition but a kind of weather that settles over everything. It enters the grocery aisle, the overdue bill, the rent notice, and the long nights spent calculating how to get through the next week. The latest numbers show that this season has not passed. It has deepened.

Private employers cut 32,000 jobs in November, according to ADP. Because the nation has been hemorrhaging jobs since President Trump took office, the administration has halted publishing the traditional monthly report. The ADP report revealed that small businesses suffered the heaviest losses. Establishments with fewer than 50 workers shed 120,000 positions, including 74,000 from companies with 20 to 49 workers. Larger firms added 90,000 jobs, widening the split between those rising and those falling.

Meanwhile, wealth continues to climb for the few who already possess most of it. Federal Reserve data shows the top 1 percent now holds $52 trillion. The top 10 percent added $5 trillion in the second quarter alone. The bottom half gained only 6 percent over the past year, a number so small it fades beside the towering fortunes above it.

“Less educated and poorer people tend to make worse mistakes,” John Campbell said to CBS News, while noting that the complexity of the system leaves many families lost before they even begin. Campbell, a Harvard University economist and coauthor of a book examining the country’s broken personal finance structure, pointed to a system built to confuse and punish those who lack time, training, or access.

“Creditors are just breathing down their necks,” Carol Fox told Bloomberg News, while noting that rising borrowing costs, shrinking consumer spending, and trade battles under the current administration have left owners desperate. Fox serves as a court-appointed Subchapter V trustee in Southern Florida and has watched the crisis unfold case by case.

During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump told those present that affordability “doesn’t mean anything to anybody.” He added that Democrats created a “con job” to mislead the public.

However, more than $30 million in taxpayer funds reportedly have supported his golf travel. Reports show Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel have also made extensive use of private jets through government and political networks. The administration approved a $40 billion bailout of Argentina. The president’s wealthy donors recently gathered for a dinner celebrating his planned $300 million White House ballroom.

During an appearance on CNBC, Mark Zandi, an economist, warned that the country could face serious economic threats. “We have learned that people make many mistakes,” Campbell added. “And particularly, sadly, less educated and poorer people tend to make worse mistakes.”

Stacy M. Brown

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The Numbers Behind the Myth of the Hundred Million Dollar Contract

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Odell Beckham Jr. did not spark controversy on purpose. He sat on The Pivot Podcast and tried to explain the math behind a deal that looks limitless from the outside but shrinks fast once the system takes its cut.

Published

3 weeks ago

December 3, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

Odell Beckham Jr. did not spark controversy on purpose. He sat on The Pivot Podcast and tried to explain the math behind a deal that looks limitless from the outside but shrinks fast once the system takes its cut. He looked into the camera and tried to offer a truth most fans never hear. “You give somebody a five-year $100 million contract, right? What is it really? It is five years for sixty. You are getting taxed. Do the math. That is twelve million a year that you have to spend, use, save, invest, flaunt,” said Beckham. He added that buying a car, buying his mother a house, and covering the costs of life all chip away at what people assume lasts forever.

The reaction was instant. Many heard entitlement. Many heard a millionaire complaining. What they missed was a glimpse into a professional world built on big numbers up front and a quiet erasing of those numbers behind the scenes.

The tax data in Beckham’s world is not speculation. SmartAsset’s research shows that top NFL players often lose close to half their income to federal taxes, state taxes, and local taxes. The analysis explains that athletes in California face a state rate of 13.3 percent and that players are also taxed in every state where they play road games, a structure widely known as the jock tax. For many players, that means filing up to ten separate returns and facing a combined tax burden that reaches or exceeds 50 percent.

A look across the league paints the same picture. The research lists star players in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland, all giving up between 43 and 47 percent of their football income before they ever touch a dollar. Star quarterback Phillip Rivers, at one point, was projected to lose half of his playing income to taxes alone.

A second financial breakdown from MGO CPA shows that the problem does not only affect the highest earners. A $1 million salary falls to about $529,000 after federal taxes, state and city taxes, an agent fee, and a contract deduction. According to that analysis, professional athletes typically take home around half of their contract value, and that is before rent, meals, training, travel, and support obligations are counted.

The structure of professional sports contracts adds another layer. A study of major deals across MLB, the NBA, and the NFL notes that long-term agreements lose value over time because the dollar today has more power than the dollar paid in the future. Even the largest deals shrink once adjusted for time. The study explains that contract size alone does not guarantee financial success and that structure and timing play a crucial role in a player’s long-term outcomes.

Beckham has also faced headlines claiming he is “on the brink of bankruptcy despite earning over one hundred million” in his career. Those reports repeated his statement that “after taxes, it is only sixty million” and captured the disbelief from fans who could not understand how money at that level could ever tighten.

Other reactions lacked nuance. One article wrote that no one could relate to any struggle on eight million dollars a year. Another described his approach as “the definition of a new-money move” and argued that it signaled poor financial choices and inflated spending.

But the underlying truth reaches far beyond Beckham. Professional athletes enter sudden wealth without preparation. They carry the weight of family support. They navigate teams, agents, advisors, and expectations from every direction. Their earning window is brief. Their career can end in a moment. Their income is fragmented, taxed, and carved up before the public ever sees the real number.

The math is unflinching. Twenty million dollars becomes something closer to $8 million after federal taxes, state taxes, jock taxes, agent fees, training costs, and family responsibilities. Over five years, that is about $40 million of real, spendable income. It is transformative money, but not infinite. Not guaranteed. Not protected.

Beckham offered a question at the heart of this entire debate. “Can you make that last forever?”

Stacy M. Brown

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FBI Report Warns of Fear, Paralysis, And Political Turmoil Under Director Kash Patel

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Six months into Kash Patel’s tenure as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a newly compiled internal report from a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI agents and analysts delivers a stark warning about what the Bureau has become under his leadership.

Published

3 weeks ago

December 2, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown

Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

Six months into Kash Patel’s tenure as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a newly compiled internal report from a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI agents and analysts delivers a stark warning about what the Bureau has become under his leadership. The 115-page document, submitted to Congress this month, is built entirely on verified reporting from inside field offices across the country and paints a picture of an agency gripped by fear, divided by ideology, and drifting without direction.

The report’s authors write that they launched their inquiry after receiving troubling accounts from inside the Bureau only four months into Patel’s tenure. They describe their goal as a pulse check on whether the ninth FBI director was reforming the Bureau or destabilizing it. Their conclusion: the preliminary findings were discouraging.

Reports Describe Widespread Internal Distrust and Open Hostility Toward President Trump

Sources across the country told investigators that a large number of FBI employees openly express hostility toward President Donald Trump. One source reported seeing an “increasing number of FBI Special Agents who dislike the President,” adding that these employees were exhibiting what they called “TDS” and had lost “their ability to think critically about an issue and distinguish fact from fiction.” Another source described employees making off-color comments about the administration during office conversations.

The sentiment reportedly extends beyond domestic lines. Law enforcement and intelligence partners in allied countries have privately expressed fear that the Trump administration could damage long-term international cooperation according to a sub-source who reported those concerns directly to investigators.

Pardon Backlash and Fear of Retaliation

The President’s January 20 pardons of individuals convicted for their roles in the January 6 attack ignited what the report calls demoralization inside the Bureau. One FBI employee said they were “demoralized” that individuals “rightfully convicted” were pardoned and feared that some of those individuals or their supporters might target them or their family for carrying out their duties. Another source described widespread anger that lists of personnel who worked on January 6 investigations had been provided to the Justice Department for review, noting that agents “were just following orders” and now worry those lists could leak publicly.

Morale In Decline

Morale among FBI employees appears to be sinking fast. There were a few scattered positive notes, but the weight of the reporting describes morale as low, bad, or terrible. Agents with more than a decade of service told investigators they feel marginalized or ignored. Some are counting the days until they can retire. One even uses a countdown app on their phone.

Culture Of Fear

Layered over that unhappiness is something far more corrosive. A culture of fear. Sources say Patel, though personable, created mistrust from the start because of harsh remarks he made about the FBI before taking office. Agents took those comments personally. They now work in an atmosphere where employees keep their heads down and speak carefully. Managers wait for directions because they are afraid a wrong move could cost them their jobs. One source said agents dread coming to work because nobody knows who will be reassigned or fired next.

Leadership Concerns

The report also paints a picture of leaders unprepared for the jobs they hold. Multiple sources said Patel is in over his head and lacks the breadth of experience required to understand the Bureau’s complex programs. Some said Deputy Director Dan Bongino should never have been appointed because the role requires deep institutional knowledge of FBI operations. A sub-source recounted Bongino telling employees during a field office visit that “the truth is for chumps.” Employees who heard it were stunned and offended.

Social Media and Communication Breakdowns

Communication inside the Bureau has become another source of frustration. Sources said Patel and Bongino spend too much time posting on social media and not enough time communicating with employees in clear and official ways. Several told investigators they learn more about FBI operations from tweets than from internal channels.

ICE Assignments Raise Alarm

Nothing has sparked more frustration inside the FBI than the orders requiring agents to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The reporting shows widespread resentment and fear over these assignments. Agents say they have little training in immigration law and were ordered into operations without proper planning. Some said they were put in tactically unsafe positions. They also warned that being pulled away from counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations threatens national security. One sub-source asked, “If we’re not working CT and CI, then who is?”

DEI Program Removal

Even the future of diversity programs became a point of division. Some agents praised Patel’s removal of DEI initiatives. Others said the old system left them afraid to speak honestly because they worried about being labeled racist. The reporting shows a deep and unresolved conflict over whether DEI strengthened the organization or weakened it.

Notable Incidents

The document also details several incidents that have become part of FBI lore. Patel ordered all employees to remove pronouns and personal messages from their email signatures yet used the number nine in his own. Agents laughed at what they saw as hypocrisy. In another episode, FBI employees who discussed Patel’s request for an FBI-issued firearm were ordered to take polygraph examinations, which one respected source described as punitive. And in Utah, Patel refused to exit a plane without a medium-sized FBI raid jacket. A team scrambled to find one and finally secured a female agent’s jacket. Patel still refused to step out until patches were added. SWAT members removed patches from their own uniforms to satisfy the demand.

A Bureau at a Crossroad

The Alliance warns that the Bureau stands at a difficult crossroads. They write that the FBI faces some of the most daunting challenges in its history. But even in despair, a few voices say something different. One veteran source said “It is early, but most can see the mission is now the priority. Case work and threats are the focus again. Reform is headed in the right direction.”