ST. LOUIS, Mo. Black women in Missouri are four times as likely to die during childbirth than white women, and during Black Maternal Health Week, reproductive-justice advocates want people to know many pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. .
How Two Women Are Joining Forces To Address The Black Maternal Health Crisis forbes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from forbes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a roundtable discussion at the White House on Tuesday.Credit.Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
April 13, 2021, 2:25 p.m. ET
The White House on Tuesday issued its first-ever presidential proclamation marking Black Maternal Health Week as part of the administration’s broader efforts to draw attention to and address the vast racial gaps in pregnancy and childbirth-related deaths and complications in the United States.
“Black women in our country are facing a maternal health crisis,” said Vice President Kamala Harris, who hosted a round table on the issue alongside Susan Rice, director of the Domestic Policy Council.
“We know the primary reasons why: systemic racial inequities and implicit bias,” Ms. Harris added.
Vice President Kamala Harris has marked Black Maternal Health Week by leading a White House discussion of the issues that make African American women two to three times more likely than other women to die because of childbirth.