By Tiffany L. Green, Photo: Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo, The Hill, April 14, 2023
April 11-17 marks Black Maternal Health Week, a week-long campaign officially recognized by the Biden administration as a time to address racial inequities in Black maternal health and to “amplify the voices, perspectives and lived experiences” of Black during pregnancy.
It is difficult, however, to celebrate this year’s theme, “Our Bodies Belong to Us: Restoring Black Autonomy and Joy!” when our governments and healthcare systems are rolling back COVID protections while largely ignoring the devastating effects these actions will have on reproductive health inequities. How can we achieve autonomy and joy in birth if we fail to keep Black parents and babies safe from a virus that continues to kill an average of nearly 200 Americans daily and leaves countless others with long-term disabilities?
To be sure, a national focus on the longstanding Black reproductive health crisis is long overdue, even in the absence of COVID. We have known for over a century that Blacks are far more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their White counterparts and that Black babies are the least likely of any racial/ethnic group to celebrate their first birthdays.
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