The birth of a child is supposed to be one of the happiest moments in a parent’s life, but for many black women in America, giving birth can be fatal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of deaths from pregnancy-related complications has increased in recent years, from 861 deaths in 2020 to 1,205 in 2021.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, black women are about three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women.
“It’s becoming increasingly dangerous in the United States for women to give birth in our country. And that should never be the case,” said Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood. “I’ve always experienced the disparity that black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. But that’s not bad for us, right? ? There is no genetic problem, and it’s not like there’s something that black women can’t survive childbirth. Absolutely not. It’s about the lack of people.”
Underwood began addressing the issue of Black maternal mortality shortly after her election in 2019. She partnered with North Carolina Representative Alma Adams to launch the Black Maternal and Child Health Caucus. And although the women are from different generations (“I’m old enough to be her grandmother,” Adams joked), the health of black mothers is a deeply personal cause for both.
Ms. Underwood trained as a registered nurse and worked with the Department of Health and Human Services before running for Congress. But she says it was the death of her friend Sharon Irving, who passed away three weeks after giving birth to her baby girl, that really opened her eyes to the issue of maternal mortality.
“It was shocking,” she said. “And I knew this would be an issue I wanted to work on in Congress.”
Adams was inspired to pursue this work by a member of her own family. Her daughter experienced preeclampsia during her birth 18 years ago, but Adams said her daughter’s pain was ignored and her doctor told her to “go home and lie down.” ,” she said she was told.
“We’re very insensitive to women who look like me,” Adams said.
Experts blame racial disparities in maternal mortality on everything from bias in the health care system to a lack of equal access to quality care.
Underwood and Adams hope to address all aspects of the maternal health crisis through a package of 13 bills. They call it “Monnibus”.
“We need to address social determinants of health such as housing, nutrition and transportation, and environmental conditions such as extreme heat and air pollution that biomedical evidence shows contribute to maternal and infant deaths. We have provisions in place to address this,” Underwood said.
Monnibus includes legislation that would provide funding to community-based organizations working to improve maternal health.
“These are people who have been working on the ground, and they have the ears and trust of the community,” Adams said.
One such organization is Mamatoto Village, which serves women in Washington, DC. The center supports women from pregnancy to postpartum with a wide range of services, from childbirth education to lactation counseling.
Aza Nedari, one of the center’s founders, started Mamatoto Village after giving birth to her first child while attending university.
“We realized that we were very lonely on our journey to motherhood and needed to meet other women in the community who were also on the same journey as us,” Nedari said. “And this space became a sanctuary and a place of refuge for us.”
Mamatoto Village also offers workforce development training programs to help train women for careers in maternal health. The center helps women get the training they need to become doulas, perinatal health workers, and lactation consultants. Nedari said she is also working to establish a midwifery school so women can qualify as professional midwives. Nedari said there is a wide range of programs that help the center address the various needs of the community.
“We must address the root causes that lead to maternal deaths, including housing, safety, education, and the economy. All of these intersect to lead to the maternal health crisis we are witnessing today. ” she said.
“We can no longer force Congress. We can no longer beg for our lives, we can no longer beg for our future,” Nedari added. “But there has to be that same urgency and will and desire to make things right for black women.”
Adams and Underwood say groups like Mamatoto Village were instrumental in passing the Monnibus legislation.
“We’ve had disparities for many years and there’s been no action by the federal government. No funding, no public service announcements, no investigations,” Underwood said. “Who stepped into the gap? Community-based groups that were on the scene.”
“These are the people who have the ear and the trust of the community,” Adams added. “[It’s] The important thing is that they need resources, support and government to continue what they’re doing and help them in the way they have. ”
Many of the “monnibus” bills have bipartisan support, but only one has passed so far.
“This is not a partisan issue,” Adams said. “We have members of Congress representing both parties who are concerned about this issue.”
Underwood said the Black Maternal and Child Health Caucus is working on adding a “monnibus” clause to the federal funding package, a must-pass bill, and hopes to sign the bill by the end of the year.
“We are looking for a legislative vehicle to do the right thing. We need to attach this to the federal funding package or pass a separate bill. So we hope to sign this into law this year.” ,” Underwood said. “The last time we passed a major federal funding agreement, we secured over $100 million through the federal funding appropriation process, which represented a significant amount of money for Monnibus. is actively working to repeat that significant progress, but in fact, to sign the entire package into law.”
Both she and Adams are urging people to support the package by contacting their representatives in Congress.
For more information about organizations supporting Black maternal and child health, the Black Mamas Matter Alliance website has a list of resources.
