With a glossy photo layout, it told the story of Maude Callen, a Black midwife in rural South Carolina, who delivered more than 600 babies and provided medical care to hundreds of poor families. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)Durdin remembers how hard it was to find a Black midwife back in 1991. Black women are nearly four times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than white women, a gap that socioeconomic forces can’t explain. That’s why the post-birth horror story of tennis icon Serena Williams resonated so deeply among Black women. But home and birth center births by Black women also rose significantly, by 76%.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 18, 2021 12:02 UTC