#NNPA BlackPress

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.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Black History Told in Bronze

Don't Miss

Remembering Tina: The Legendary “Queen of Rock ‘n Roll” Passes Away at 83

Oakland Post

Click to comment

#NNPA BlackPress

COMMENTARY: Women of Color Shape Our Past and Future

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — Every March, Women’s History Month invites us to pause and honor the women whose courage, intellect, and leadership have shaped our world. This year, that invitation feels especially urgent. We are living in a time when history is being rewritten, when DEI is being recast as a threat, and when the stories we choose to uplift matter more than ever. The stories of women of color must be centered, celebrated, and carried forward with intention.

Published

3 days ago

March 9, 2026

admin

Women of Color Leadership Shapes the Legacy of Women’s History Month

By Dr. Sharon M. Holder | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

Women’s History Month offers an opportunity to recognize the enduring impact of women of color leadership across history and in the present day. From Harriet Tubman and Shirley Chisholm to today’s leaders in science, politics and culture, women of color continue to shape movements, institutions and communities through courage, collaboration and vision.

Every March, Women’s History Month invites us to pause and honor the women whose courage, intellect, and leadership have shaped our world. This year, that invitation feels especially urgent. We are living in a time when history is being rewritten, when DEI is being recast as a threat, and when the stories we choose to uplift matter more than ever. The stories of women of color must be centered, celebrated, and carried forward with intention.

For centuries, women of color have been architects of progress, even when history tried to confine them to the margins. They have led movements, built institutions, transformed culture, and expanded the boundaries of justice, leadership, and community. Their contributions are not postscripts; they are landmarks. Yet too often, their brilliance has been acknowledged only in hindsight. Women’s History Month offers a chance to correct that imbalance, not only by remembering the past, but by recognizing their leadership unfolding before us.

This legacy lives in Harriet Tubman, whose courage and strategic brilliance transformed the Underground Railroad into one of the boldest freedom operations in American history. In Barbara Jordan, whose moral clarity reshaped the nation’s understanding of justice and constitutional responsibility. In Madam C. J. Walker, expanding both the beauty industry and the economic horizons of Black women. It dances in Josephine Baker, who challenged racism and resisted fascism. In Ida B. Wells and Dolores Huerta, who wielded truth and determination in pursuit of justice. In Chien-Shiung Wu, whose experiments altered science, and Shirley Chisholm, whose political courage expanded the very definition of leadership. These women did more than break barriers; they built new worlds.

A powerful throughline in the leadership of women of color is how they lead: collaboratively, creatively, relationally, and with deep responsibility to community. Their leadership is grounded not in hierarchy but in connection, in the belief that progress is something we build together.

We see this in Kamala Harris, whose presence expands the boundaries of possibility; in Ketanji Brown Jackson; in Oprah Winfrey; and in Toni Morrison, who insisted that the interior lives of Black women are essential to the human story. It resonates in Simone Biles and Serena Williams, redefining strength through excellence and self-belief.

Today, women of color continue to drive breakthroughs in medicine, technology, the arts, politics, and environmental justice. Their leadership appears not only in boardrooms or public office, but in mentorship, advocacy, and the daily navigation of systems never designed for them. The spirit shines in Mae Jemison and Ellen Ochoa; in Michelle Obama; and in the brilliance of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Christine Darden, whose work helped launch a nation into space.

Celebration is important, but it is not enough. Honoring women of color requires intentional action rooted in equity. It means creating environments where their voices are valued, challenging the biases that shape who is recognized, and ensuring progress is shared.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, let us honor women of color not as symbols, but as leaders whose work continues to guide us. When we uplift women of color, we honor history and shape the future.

Dr. Sharon M. Holder lives in South Carolina. She holds a PhD/MPhil in Gerontology from the Center for Research on Aging at the University of Southampton, UK; a Master of Science in Gerontology from the Institute of Gerontology at King’s College London, UK; and a Master of Social Work from the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston, Texas.

Dr. Holder discovered her love of poetry at the University of Houston–Downtown, where she published in The Bayou Review and the Anthology of Poetry. Today, she writes poetry as a practice of gratitude alongside her academic research.

admin

Posts by admin

#NNPA BlackPress

Woman’s Search for Family’s Roots Leads to Ancestor John T. Ward – A Successful Entrepreneur and Conductor on the Underground Railroad

THE AFRO — For years, she wanted to know more about her ancestor John T. Ward, she said, and her curiosity eventually became an obsession, leading her to become the genealogist for her family. And so, for more than a decade, she set out to trace her family’s roots and discovered a story that would change her life and the way she viewed American history.

Published

3 days ago

March 9, 2026

admin

By D. Kevin McNeir | Special to The AFRO

Shanna Ward, the owner of a publishing company and insurance agency located in Columbus, Ohio, said the elders in her family often say she inherited her entrepreneurial spirit from one of their ancestors – a formerly enslaved child from Virginia whose freedom came through manumission in 1827.

For years, she wanted to know more about her ancestor John T. Ward, she said, and her curiosity eventually became an obsession, leading her to become the genealogist for her family. And so, for more than a decade, she set out to trace her family’s roots and discovered a story that would change her life and the way she viewed American history.

John T. Ward would help others secure their freedom and justice in his roles as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, an abolitionist, and political activist. But realizing that economic freedom was essential to his and his family’s survival, he and his son founded the Ward Transfer Line in 1881 (now E.E. Ward Moving) – one of America’s oldest Black-owned businesses. While it has transferred ownership, the business remains in operation today.

Shanna Ward recently published a book about her ancestor, “The Bequest of John T. Ward,” which she hopes can be added to other unheralded tales of Black resistance that occurred during America’s antebellum period.

“Originally, I just wanted to write a 100-page story when I first began digging and was encouraged after I found a copy of a will dated 1827 which included him and was a rare example of a mass manumission,” Shanna Ward said. “Three of the slaves, including John’s grandfather, were given about 294 acres of land in the will, but all the former slaves were supposed to remain on the plantation until their 21st birthday. Some refused to remain. That’s how our family got to Ohio.”

Ward said she learned that newly freed Blacks, including her ancestors in Ohio, had to fend for themselves and often did so with amazing results given the obstacles they faced.

“In those days there were no civil rights organizations, and in local communities, Blacks formed and supported Black-owned businesses, took their own census recordings, and became involved in local politics – all without White involvement,” she said.

BOOK COVER: The cover of the book “The Bequest of John T. Ward,” written by Shanna Ward about her ancestor who, as a child, was granted his freedom in 1827 and went on to become a successful business owner in Ohio, a political activist, and a conductor on the historic Underground Railroad.

“There is part of Ohio where, during the days of slavery, if you successfully crossed the river you were free,” she said. “That was where Black life began – across the river in freedom. When we understand ourselves as more than property and uncover tales of survival which are the foundation of our legacy, then we can better understand who we are and what our ancestors endured. We are stronger than we are often led to believe.”

Efforts among African Americans to learn their family roots have increased over the past several decades, particularly given the success of the PBS documentary, “Finding Your Roots,” hosted and narrated by Harvard University professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr.

On the show’s website, Gates said he developed the show in 2012 in efforts to continue his quest to “get into the DNA of American culture.”

In each episode, celebrities view ancestral histories and share their emotional experience with viewers. Gates attributes the success of the show to a significant surge in interest among Black Americans in tracing their family roots and a desire to reconnect with ancestral history that was severed by slavery.

JOHN T. WARD: John T. Ward, the historic patriarch in a family whose roots can be traced to the days of slavery in Virginia, is the subject of a new book written by a member of his proud family, Shanna Ward, called “The Bequest of John T. Ward.”

“Advancements in DNA testing have increased accessibility of records and led to a cultural push to reclaim identity beyond the ‘brick wall’ of 1870,” said Gates who noted that the 1870 U.S. Census represents the first time former slaves were listed by name and, unfortunately, serves as the point where records of their lives often stop and cannot be traced any earlier.

In a recent paper published in the journal “American Anthropologist,” University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign anthropology professor LaKisha David posits that by using genetic genealogy, African Americans now have the real possibility of restoring family narratives that were disrupted, severed and destroyed by institutional slavery.

“For African Americans who have grown up with a sense of ancestral loss and disconnection, this reclamation of family history is deeply humanizing and healing,” she writes. “It replaces the genealogical unknown with tangible knowledge of ancestral histories and kinship ties.

“Identifying African ancestors and living relatives is an act of restorative justice. It is ultimately about (re)claiming the humanity, dignity, and agency of enslaved Africans and their descendants, which is an essential component of repairing the harms of slavery.”

Ward said by uncovering her family’s truth, she has established a platform for education and empowerment for herself, her children, and today’s youth.

“I realized how important it is to pass down our own stories to the next generation,” Ward said. “There’s so much our children need to know about the Underground Railroad, the quilt codes created by Black women, and other examples of unrecorded heroics and bravery exhibited by Black men and women. Their collective efforts led to the end of Jim Crow laws and the securing of equal rights in the U.S. Constitution for African Americans. If you look hard enough, I believe everyone has someone like Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass in their family.”

admin

Posts by admin

#NNPA BlackPress

Advocates Raise Alarm Over ICE Operation, MOU and Detention Risks in Baltimore County

THE AFRO — “This is highly problematic given many of the charges that land people in county correctional facilities to begin with are for misdemeanors of which they may not even ultimately be proven guilty and convicted,” said Cathryn Ann Paul Jackson, public policy director for We Are CASA. “It results in a subversion of the local criminal justice system as a means to further racial profiling and do ICE’s dirty work.”

Published

3 days ago

March 9, 2026

admin

By Megan Sayles | AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com

As U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) operations intensify nationwide, community organizations have become the eyes and ears of their neighborhoods—monitoring the agency’s presence and alerting residents to protect themselves and their neighbors.

In Baltimore County, nonprofits like We Are CASA have observed a spectrum of enforcement actions.

“We have seen a range of activity, including traffic stops and ICE showing up in neighborhoods or in seeming response to tips,” said Cathryn Ann Paul Jackson, public policy director for We Are CASA. “Beyond actual ICE activity in Baltimore County, we have seen many detentions of Baltimore County residents across the DMV, as community members tend to travel across counties and cities for work.”

We Are CASA, a national nonprofit headquartered in Maryland, is dedicated to empowering and improving the quality of life for working-class Black, Latino, Afro-descendent, Indigenous and immigrant communities. Jackson’s personal connection to this mission led her to the organization. A daughter of immigrants from Guyana and Trinidad, she said she grew up witnessing firsthand how immigration policy can define families’ safety, opportunity and sense of belonging.

She said the locations and times of ICE operations in Baltimore County have varied over time.

“We have consistently seen ICE arrest people at their check-in appointments, which were ironically created as an alternative to detention and are now being abused to trap people into custody,” said Jackson. “For a period of time, we were witnessing a significant amount of arrests along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway by U.S. Park Police, who were using a previously rarely enforced law against driving commercial vehicles on this road as a pretext to profile immigrant drivers, detain them and hand them over to ICE.”

Last fall, Baltimore County entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ICE, removing the locality from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) sanctuary jurisdictions list and formalizing a policy for notifying ICE before the release of inmates with federal immigration detainers or judge-signed warrants.

The agreement codified an existing practice within the Baltimore County Department of Corrections. The MOU is not a 287(g) agreement, which is a partnership between local law enforcement and ICE to delegate immigration enforcement authority to police officers. Those agreements were banned by the state of Maryland on Feb. 17.

However, Jackson criticized the policy memorialized in the MOU, saying that although it is carefully drafted to avoid legal violations, it effectively allows detention centers to hold people past their court-ordered release so that ICE can take them into custody.

“This is highly problematic given many of the charges that land people in county correctional facilities to begin with are for misdemeanors of which they may not even ultimately be proven guilty and convicted,” said Jackson. “It results in a subversion of the local criminal justice system as a means to further racial profiling and do ICE’s dirty work.”

Baltimore County has said it entered into the MOU in an effort to preserve its access to federal funding. The locality explained its reasoning on a FAQ page about its removal from the DOJ’s sanctuary jurisdictions list.

“Inclusion on DOJ’s list could risk significant federal funding, on which the county and constituents depend,” the entry read. “Signing the MOU ensures that the county avoids risks to federal funding that is used to provide needed services.”

Baltimore County’s removal is not unique, as neither Maryland nor any of its counties appear on the DOJ’s list. Still, community members worry that the county’s MOU with ICE could lead to wrongful detentions and the misidentification of residents.

Immigration detainers are not always confirmation of a person’s immigration status—or lack thereof. They are requests by ICE that can be issued without a judicial determination and do not, on their own, establish a person’s legal status.

“We’re very concerned about errors occurring here in the county because of the amped up nature of this mass deportation push,” said Patterson. “This is a replacement theory-driven immigration policy. That means that at the same time we are importing White South African Afrikaaners—who at one time essentially colonized South Africa and oppressed Black South Africans—we are fast deporting people of color. All of us who are the minority can be mistaken for ‘unlawful immigrants.’”

The recent escalation in Minneapolis has heightened Patterson’s concern. He said the city has effectively been made a battleground.

Patterson said the Baltimore County NAACP wants the public to recognize that ICE operates as a militarized organization, unlike local police. He urged people to consider avoiding areas where ICE is active whenever possible and to exercise caution if they encounter agents. If approached, Patterson stressed that people verify warrants are properly signed and directed at them, assert their right to remain silent and contact an attorney before answering questions or consenting to searches.

He also encouraged residents to notify the Baltimore County NAACP of any encounters with ICE.

“We don’t want to wait for Minnesota in Maryland before speaking out about this,” said Patterson. “We want to equip our people to protect themselves behaviorally, consciously and conscientiously because these things are coming to pass. The imprint is among us and we need, therefore, to be aware.”