Maybe you heard aboutMarqwetta Johnsonfrom Tulsa, who died from an ectopic pregnancy that led to cardiac arrest.
For every death that receives national press attention, many others go largely unnoticed.
When talking aboutblack maternal mortality, the same questions come up over and over: Why is this happening?
Loveis Wise
What can we do about it?
and is the director of theBlavatnik Family Womens Health Research Institute, tells SELF.
Here are some of the strategies experts in this space believe would help save black pregnant and postpartum people.
We need to collect more data.
(Doulas are nonclinical birth workers who provide emotional support, and midwives are certified medical birth workers.)
As theSAGE Journalsreview notes, theres simply not enough data in this area.
We need to address maternal mental health care too.
Even those who did ask for help were less likely to receive follow-up care.
Nearly 4 percent of those people met the diagnostic criteria forpost-traumatic stress disorder.
We need to counter implicit bias among medical professionals.
We need to dismantle [these] racist practices.
Implementing medical training programs to reduce implicit bias is getting a big push from some 2020 presidential candidates.
you could read more about thathere.
We need to uplift the voices of affected communities and families.
The system is broken, and black women have been this canary in the coal mine, says Bandele.
We are showing you an issue that is widespread, real, and impacting everyone.
We center black women because we believe you have to center the people who are being affected the most.
Black women know their bodies and understand what ails them,the papersays.
We need to extend Medicaid coverage up to one year postpartum in every state.
Many low-income women lose their Medicaid coverage at 60 days postpartum, he noted.
According to theCDC, Medicaid was the source of payment for 43 percent of births in 2017.
Data out of North Carolina suggests that expanding Medicaid services can make a huge difference in maternal health outcomes.
In 2011, the state launched aPregnancy Medical Homeprogram through Medicaid.
Doctors also receive financial incentives for doing a postpartum visit.
Numbers show that this program has helpedclose the racial gapin maternal deaths within the state.
By 2013, there were around 24 deaths per 100,000 births annually for both black and white parents.
Thats still far too high overall, but North Carolinas success in reducing the racial disparity is undeniable.
We need to expand fourth-trimester care.
This is replacing doctors traditional recommendation of a single follow-up appointment up to six weeks after birth.
Medical care during the fourth trimester is just one piece of the puzzle, though.
We need to normalize trauma-informed care.
As such, experts believe addressing this trauma is part of making the birth experience better for black people.
This is where trauma-informed care comes in.
A number of doula and midwifery training programs teach trauma-informed care and stress the importance ofinformed consentin medical controls.
However, providing trauma-informed care should be standard across the board.
We need to recognize that stopping maternal deaths is just one part of the goal.
The women who livehow are they living?
Getting home from the hospital alive is not enough.
The black maternal mortality crisis demands an urgent and nuanced response.
This includesholding our elected officials accountable.
It includes spreading awareness aboutpossible complicationsduring pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.
And it includes seeking solutions immediately while centering the voices of the communities and individuals who are most affected.
Peoples lives depend on it.
