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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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Black Artists in America, Installation Three Wraps at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens

TRI-STATE DEFENDER — With 50+ paintings, sculptures and assemblages, the exhibit features artists like Varnette Honeywood from Los Angeles, whose pieces appeared in Bill Coby’s private collection (before they were auctioned off) and on “The Cosby Show.” Also included are works by Alonzo Davis, another Los Angeles artist who opened one of the first galleries there where Black Artists could exhibit.

Published

1 week ago

March 24, 2026

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By Candace A. Gray | Tri-State Defender

The tulips gleefully greet those who enter the gates at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens on an almost spring day. More than 650,000 bulbs of various hues are currently on display. And they are truly breathtaking.

Inside the gallery, and equally as breathtaking, is the “Black Artists in America, From the Bicentennial to September 11” exhibit, which runs through Sunday, March 29. This is the third installment of a three-part series that started years ago and illustrates part of the Black experience through visual arts in the 20th century.

“This story picks up where part two left off,’’ said Kevin Sharp, the Linda W. and S. Herbert Rhea director for the Dixon. “This era is when we really start to see the emergence of these important Black artists’ agency and freedom shine through. They start to say and express what they want to, and it was a really beautiful time.”

With 50+ paintings, sculptures and assemblages, the exhibit features artists like Varnette Honeywood from Los Angeles, whose pieces appeared in Bill Coby’s private collection (before they were auctioned off) and on “The Cosby Show.” Also included are works by Alonzo Davis, another Los Angeles artist who opened one of the first galleries there where Black Artists could exhibit.

“Though [Davis] was from LA, he actually lived in Memphis for a decade,” said Sharp. “He was a dean at Memphis College of Art, and later opened the first gallery in New York owned and operated by black curators.”

Another featured artist is former NFL player, Ernie Barnes. His work is distinctive. Where have you seen one of his most popular paintings, Sugar Shack? On the end scene and credits of the hit show “Good Times.” His piece Saturday Night, Durham, North Carolina, 1974 is in this collection.

Memphis native James Little’s “The War Baby: The Triptych” is among more than 50 works featured in “Black Artists in America, From the Bicentennial to September 11” at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, the final installment of a three-part series highlighting the impact and evolution of Black artists through 2011.

The exhibit features other artists with Memphis ties, including abstract painter James Little, who was raised in a segregated Memphis and attended Memphis Academy of Art (before it was Memphis College of Art). He later moved to New York, became a teacher and an internationally acclaimed fixture in the art world in 2022 when he was named a Whitney Biennial selected artist at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Other artists like Romare Bearden, who had a Southern experience but lived up North, were featured in all three installments.

“During this period of time, he was a major figure,” said Sharp. “He wrote one of the first books on the history of African American art during a time when there were more Black academics, art teachers, more Black everything!”

Speaking of Black educators, Sharp said the head curator behind this tri-part series and Dixon’s partner in the arts is Earnestine Jenkins, Ph.D., an art history professor at the University of Memphis, who also earned a Master of Arts degree from Memphis State University (now UofM). “We began working with Dr. Jenkins in 2018,” he said.

Sharp explained that it takes a team of curators, registrars, counterparts at other museums, and more, about three years to assemble an exhibit like this. It came together quite seamlessly, he added. Each room conjured up more jaw-dropping “wows” than the one before it. Each piece worked with the others to tell the story of Black people and their collective experience during this time period.

One of the last artists about whom Sharp shared information was Bettye Saar, who will turn 100 years old this year. She’s been working in Los Angeles for 80 years and is finally getting her due. Her medium is collages or assemblages, and an incredible work of hers is on display. She’s married to an artist and has two daughters, also artists.

The exhibit catalogue bears some of these artists’ stories, among other scholarly information.

The exhibit, presented by the Joe Orgill Family Fund for Exhibitions, is culturally and colorfully rich. It is a must see and admission to the Dixon is free.

Visit https://www.dixon.org/ to learn more.

Fun Facts: An original James Little design lives in the flooring of the basketball court at Tom Lee Park, and he makes and mixes his own paint colors.

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Grief, Advocacy, and Education: A Counselor Reflects on Black Maternal Health

SAN DIEGO VOICE & VIEWPOINT — Last month healthcare leaders, birth workers, and community members gathered to honor the legacy of Charleston native Dr. Janell Green Smith, a nurse-midwife and doctor of nursing practice who died in January from childbirth complications. She had participated in more than 300 births and specialized in helping Black women give birth safely.

Published

1 week ago

March 24, 2026

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By Jennifer Porter Gore | Word-In-Black | San Diego Voice and Viewpoint

In 2024, the number of U.S. mothers who died as a result of pregnancy or childbirth dropped compared to 2023. But while slightly fewer Black mothers died that year, they still had three times the mortality rate of white women.

South Carolina’s rates of maternal deaths outpaced even the national rates. In fact, the state’s overall rate of maternal deaths between 2019 and 2023 was higher than all but eight states and the District of Columbia.

Last month healthcare leaders, birth workers, and community members gathered to honor the legacy of Charleston native Dr. Janell Green Smith, a nurse-midwife and doctor of nursing practice who died in January from childbirth complications. She had participated in more than 300 births and specialized in helping Black women give birth safely.

Her death shocked the community and her colleagues who are determined to address concerns about Black maternal health. The event also covered the importance of protecting mental health during grief and of men’s role in solving the maternal health crisis.

As both a therapist and a father, Lawrence Lovell, a licensed professional counselor and founder of Breakthrough Solutions, discussed ways the event’s attendees could process their grief over Green Smith’s death. He also shared ways male partners can advocate for women’s maternal health during pregnancy and childbirth.

Lovell spoke not just as a therapist but also as a father whose own family had briefly crossed paths with Green Smith. The event, he said, emerged organically from a moment of collective mourning.

Despite the grief, “it was still, like, a really beautiful event, a much-needed event, and it almost felt like we were all giving each other a collective family hug,” says Lovell.

His connection to Green Smith, Lovell says, was brief but meaningful during his wife’s pregnancy with their second child. Green Smith was practicing at the same birthing center where they had their child. She began practicing in Greenville a short time later.Even that short connection carried significance for Lovell, given the small number of Black maternal health professionals.

Lovell did not initially plan to become a mental health practitioner; he chose the career path after graduating from college, when someone suggested he consider psychology. His interest deepened when he noticed how few Black men work in mental health.

“Being Black man and playing football in college, there weren’t a lot of people that look like me talking about mental health,” says Lovell. “[I wanted] to give people that look like me an opportunity to work with someone that looks like them.”

Working with Expectant and New Parents

Lovell often counsels couples preparing for parenthood by, helping partners understand what a successful pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum recovery look like. That often means helping women manage postpartum depression.

As a man, Lovell says, it’s “humbling” that a woman “just trusts me enough to work with me through their pregnancy or their postpartum recovery.”

In his work, Lovell has noticed how few men understand pregnancy before they experience it with their partner. Because early pregnancy symptoms are often invisible, he says, men may underestimate how much support a mom-to-be actually needs.

“Sometimes they may not realize they don’t know much about pregnancy and what to expect in those three trimesters,” Lovell says. “I tell a lot of the men that just because you can’t see [she’s pregnant] doesn’t mean that she won’t appreciate your intense support in that first trimester.”

Education about pregnancy and postpartum recovery, he says, can change how men support their partners.

Teaching Advocacy in the Delivery Room

Another major focus of Lovell’s counseling is preparing men to advocate for mothers during labor.

“Helping men understand what pregnancy looks like: what delivery is going to look like, and what are the realistic expectations that I should have of myself in postpartum,” he says.

Lovell encourages partners to be honest about their expectations for what will happen during delivery. He helps them prepare for the big day by discussing the birth plan and knowing how to quickly recognize problems. Clear communication, he says, prevents misunderstandings.

He regularly trains men to ask their partners detailed questions about their expectations during and after pregnancy. Advocacy in medical settings can be especially important and requires attention to details the mother may not be able to address.

“It’s always important to fine-tune things and truly understand what helps your partner feel most supported,” Lovell says. “Instead of guessing, you should ask.”

Lovell recalls a moment during the birth of his first child when he had to take that role.

During the delivery, “I felt like something wasn’t as sanitary as I’d like it to be,” he says. “I asked, ‘Hey, can you switch those out? Can you change your gloves?’”

Lovell has a succinct but powerful message he regularly shares with clients’ families, and he shared it with attendees at last month’s event.

“Just to believe women,” he says. “I’ve worked with different couples, and sometimes I’m not really sure that there’s enough empathy from the men.”

That includes how women express pain.

“If a woman says, ‘my pain is at a nine,’ just because how you would express yourself at a nine is different than how she’s expressing herself at [that level] doesn’t mean you shouldn’t believe her,” he says.

Empathy, he says, can change outcomes far beyond the delivery room.

“We’ve got to believe women when they’re talking about their experiences and their feelings and their pain,” he says. “I think there’s a lot that we can prevent if we empathize better.”

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Future of Florida’s Black History Museum in Limbo

JACKSONVILLE FREE PRESS — A proposal sponsored by Tom Leek, a Republican from Ormond Beach, has now passed the Senate in back-to-back legislative sessions. But the House version, filed by Kiyan Michael, a Jacksonville Republican, did not receive final approval in either year, effectively stalling the effort.

Published

1 week ago

March 24, 2026

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Jacksonville Free Press

Plans to establish a long-awaited Black history museum in Florida are once again on hold after legislation needed to advance the project failed to clear the state House for a second consecutive year, despite repeated approval in the Senate.

A proposal sponsored by Tom Leek, a Republican from Ormond Beach, has now passed the Senate in back-to-back legislative sessions. But the House version, filed by Kiyan Michael, a Jacksonville Republican, did not receive final approval in either year, effectively stalling the effort.

Under Florida law, identical or similar bills must pass both chambers before heading to the governor’s desk. Without House approval, the legislation has been unable to move forward, leaving the project in limbo. Long journey, contested location.

The proposed museum, formally known as the Florida Museum of Black History, has been years in the making, with lawmakers and community leaders framing it as a long-overdue institution to preserve and showcase the state’s African American heritage .A central point of contention has been the museum’s location. St. Augustine — widely recognized as the nation’s oldest city and a site deeply tied to both slavery and early Black history — emerged as the leading contender. Supporters argue the city’s historical significance makes it a natural home for the museum. However, competing interests and regional considerations have fueled debate, slowing consensus among lawmakers.

While the Senate-backed measure has consistently advanced, the lack of alignment in the House has underscored ongoing divisions about how and where the project should take shape.

The holdup in the Florida House appears to be less about opposition to the museum itself and more about a combination of procedural bottlenecks, unresolved structural issues, and lingering disagreements over how the project should be formalized and governed.

Despite the legislative setbacks, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has publicly voiced support for the museum. Speaking last month during the unveiling of a statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass in St. Augustine, DeSantis said the project would move forward “one way or another,” signaling an intent to see the museum built regardless of legislative hurdles.

The anticipated museum has already cleared several hurdles. St. Johns County signed an agreement last year with Florida Memorial University to use the land that once housed its campus last year’s legislative session netted $1 million in funding for St. Johns County to work on planning and design for the museum. However, its anticipated that a million $3 million is needed.

Still, without statutory approval to finalize key components — including governance, funding mechanisms and site selection — the project remains largely conceptual.
With the House bill failing again, the timeline for the museum’s development is unclear. Lawmakers could revisit the proposal in the next legislative session, but any further delays risk pushing the project back several more years. Advocates warn that continued inaction could stall momentum for a museum many see as critical to telling a fuller, more accurate story of Florida’s past. For now, the effort remains paused — caught between political support at the top and legislative gridlock within the Capitol.