New Legislation Would Fight NYC’s Disturbing Black Maternal Death Rate
How do you protect the lives of pregnant people of color in a city where Black moms are more than eight times more likely to die in childbirth than white moms?
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams is making a start, by today introducing a package of new legislation to the City Council that aims to make giving birth in New York City safer, especially for Black women.
Shocking numbers
In New York City, Black women are 8 to 12 times more likely to die during childbirth than their white counterparts, Williams said.
The reason is rooted in structural racism. Studies have shown medical personnel in the United States often practice an unconscious racial bias by overlooking, minimizing or dismissing the health concerns of Black patients.
In 2020, two young, Black women died in childbirth under preventable circumstances in New York City hospitals, shooting the issue of Black maternal morbidity which is now back into the spotlight.
