So what are we supposed to do about the national birth crisis among Black women?
Black women and infants are 3 to 4 times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. Those numbers vary in different areas of the country. I have seen anywhere from 12x's to 36x's and the reason vary as to why. Last year I attend an Infant Mortality Awareness Summit in Dallas, TX and to my surprise, the real reasons as to why there is a crisis was not even mentioned. I listened to the medical examiners speak mostly about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome being the number one cause. There was no mention of vaccinations or medical racism, which in my opinion would be the cause right along with stress. There was also a lot of discussion about preventing teenage pregnancies and other things that were not very solution-based. We as birth workers hear about this birth crisis like a broken record, but what are we doing about it. No one is coming to save us, so we must save ourselves. I am not going to overlook the large amount of women burying their babies and inf