Black women in Texas have the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths and complications in the country, according to the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee. More attention is being brought to the issue as the nation recognizes Black Maternal Health Week.

Advocates for Black mothers have said systemic racism and bias impact pregnancy outcomes for people of color.

Angela Aina, co-founder and executive director of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, said being pregnant in Texas became more dangerous after the state banned abortions in 2021.

"The abortion bans have further contributed to the criminalization of pregnancy," she said. "The fact that there are so many case studies of people who have been pregnant, who have experienced a miscarriage, and are not receiving proper care for miscarriage."

The pregnancy-related mortality ratio for Black women in the Lone Star state is two times higher than it is for white women, regardless of age, income and education.

BMMA works with nonprofits across Texas, including Shades of Blue Project in Houston and The Afiya Center in Dallas, to provide wrap-around services for people of color.

Maternal mortality rates in the South also exceed the national average. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has extended postpartum Medicaid and CHIP coverage to 12 months to address some of these issues, but Aina said many Southern Black neighborhoods lack safe, culturally competent birthing spaces.

"We have a serious problem with our health-care system across our Southern states," she said, "but most importantly, it's rooted in the lack of political will to value women as people."

BMMA supports the "Momnibus Act," a bill before Congress that aims to end preventable maternal deaths and address maternal health disparities in the United States.

Source: Public News Service