Improving Birth Outcomes for Women of Color in Chicagoland
Because my passion is supporting teens and women throughout their life cycles, including through pregnancy, I want to bring attention to the startling facts that African American and Indigenous women face when they become pregnant:
They are 2-3 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, and that goes up to 4-5 times for women over 30, according to the CDC in a press release last September.
And guess where the US ranked in 2015 for maternal mortality in the world? Not in the top 20 or even the top 30 of best outcomes. We ranked 45th meaning 44 countries have better birth outcomes per 100,000 births than the USA.
It is a risk for a black woman to be pregnant and give birth in the US, just as it’s a risk for a black man to be out after dark in the south, or out in public anywhere for that matter. Recent events are rightly bringing back our national attention to the racial disparities that persist into 2020. But we can affect change!
There are local grassroots organizations dedicated to supporting black women during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, but it’s a big undertaking. They need our support.
Chicago Birth Workers of Color
Chicago Birthworkers Collective
Click on the links for info on donating if you feel compelled.
The more we focus on this issue, the more light will shine on it, and the faster we can change maternal outcomes for the better!
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p0905-racial-ethnic-disparities-pregnancy-deaths.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2223rank.html
https://www.reproductiverights.org/document/black-mamas-matter-toolkit-for-advancing-human-right-to-safe-respectful-maternal-health-care?utm_content=buffer2efd5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
