Black maternal mortality gap still persists in U.S.
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Black women remain three times more likely than white and Hispanic women to die from pregnancy-related complications, according to the latest maternal mortality rates released last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Why it matters: Advocates fear inconsistent abortion access across the U.S. and anti-DEI efforts by the Trump administration could fuel the continued racial disparities.
The latest: The maternal mortality rate for 2024 (the latest year available) stood at 17.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, down from 18.6 in 2023, CDC data shows.
- By race, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 44.8, down from 50.3.
- Rates for white women (14.5 to 14.2) and Hispanic women (12.4 to 12.1) dipped slightly, while rates for Asian women rose sharply (10.7 to 18.1).
What they're saying: Angela D. Aina, co-founder and executive director of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, hopes her organization's annual Black Maternal Health Week will continue drawing attention to these gaps.
- Black Maternal Health Week, which began April 11 and runs through April 17, highlights Black woman-led efforts to raise awareness about systemic inequities that affect maternal and birth outcomes.
- Aina told Axios anti-DEI efforts have meant that Black-led efforts to address disparate outcomes have not been granted the same funding support that "more traditional" maternal and child health organizations continue to receive.
- This also means funding for research focused on Black maternal health inequities has dried up.
- "It has been real detrimental to the ability of so many of our partners across the Alliance to be able to continue to scale their programs," Aina said.
State of play: Aina told Axios that Georgia's six-week abortion ban and a patchy network of laws across the country have not only negatively affected health outcomes for pregnant women, but have also changed how health care workers carry out their duties.
- Some women have experienced miscarriages and were later charged with crimes after health care workers called law enforcement.
- One woman in Florida, who was in labor, had to appear in court via Zoom after she refused to undergo a C-section.
- Two women in Georgia died after they were unable to access timely emergency medical care, according to ProPublica.
- A woman in southeast Georgia was charged with murder last month after she took abortion pills to end her pregnancy.
- "These abortion bans gave way for draconian policies ... to be practiced, especially in Southern states, in a way that has resulted in pregnancy criminalization," Aina said.
The big picture: Nicole Rankins, a Richmond, Virginia-based OB-GYN physician and host of the "Birth With Power" podcast, told Axios that closing gaps in maternal mortality rates can begin by health care workers recognizing and addressing unconscious biases.
- "It just means that — whether you realize it or not — Black women are being treated differently than other people in the health care system," she said. "That ... bias leads to poor outcomes," she said.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show Rankins' podcast is entitled "Birth With Power" (not "All About Birth").