About

What We Know

Regardless of education, income, zip code or healthy habits, women and babies are dying at alarming rates.
  • African American infants are dying at 2x the rate of other children
  • African American women are 4x as likely to die during pregnancy
  • At the root of the problem — the racial bias and discrimination African American women face

Why is this happening?

Despite technological advancements, pregnancy-related deaths in the United States have more than doubled in the last 30 years. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world. African American families are disproportionately impacted.

  • These deaths are not due to anything African American women are doing or not doing.
  • A growing amount of research has uncovered that the racial bias and discrimination African American women face daily creates a toxic physiological stress that results directly in conditions that lead to higher rates of infant and maternal death.
  • These health inequities and disparities aren’t exclusive to Sacramento — they’re happening across the United States.
See The Research

This Is A Systemic Issue

African Americans experience structural racism in many ways such as housing, education, economically, and through policies. During pregnancy and childbirth, Black women face additional barriers that cause chronic stress including, but not limited to:

  • Lower quality maternity care
  • Unfair treatment
  • Not being listened to when expressing fears or concerns
  • Not being included in making maternal medical decisions
  • Lack of communication received from care providers
  • The pressure to have medical interventions such as inductions and cesareans
The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world.