Black Maternal Health: A Legacy and a Future

The logo for this series is meant to represent a key idea: Maternal health is all about embracing the mother.

But in the United States, African American women confront striking statistics as they form partnerships, become parents and care for their children.

African American women are three-to-six times more likely to die during pregnancy and the six weeks after delivery than U.S. white and Latina women. That holds true across various levels of income and education. In fact, some studies find middle-income and highly educated African American women at higher risk.