Laura Flanders Show

What is causing the Black maternal mortality epidemic, and what can be done to save Black lives? The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any high-income nation in the world - and it is Black mothers who are dying at the highest rates. Black birthing people are three times more likely to die in childbirth, but about 84% of those deaths are preventable. For this episode of Meet the BIPOC Press with our partner URL Media, a network of Black and Brown owned and operated news outlets, Laura Flanders is joined again by co-host Sara Lomax of Philadelphia's WURD Radio. They invite Marianne Fray, the CEO of Maternity Care Coalition and Kenya Hunter, the Atlanta Health Reporter for Capital B News, to discuss how Black women and birthing people are taking control of their pregnancies. Explore the community-centered responses that may lead to better pregnancy outcomes and a more equitable healthcare system. "We all came into this world through some person and it is a miraculous thing. If we could spend a little time reflecting on that, and then set up ourselves or whomever chooses to have children with the best possible outcome." - Marianne Fray "There was a researcher from the University of Colorado, Boulder, who predicted a 21% jump in pregnancy-related deaths in the country if Roe v Wade was overturned. But that number then jumps to 33% when you're talking about Black women." - Kenya Hunter "... Birth was a business practice in many ways. Children were ripped from us. Black women were experimented on by the 'father of gynecology,' Marion Sims in the 1840s... I do think Black women are carrying a lot of historical trauma related to birthing and childbearing." Guests: Marianne Fray: CEO, Maternity Care Coalition; Kenya Hunter: Atlanta Health Reporter, Capital B News; Sara Lomax: Co-Founder, URL Media; President & CEO, WURD Radio.

Episode Duration: 26 minutes and 46 seconds

Episode Number: 408

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About Laura Flanders Show:

THE LAURA FLANDERS SHOW is an award-winning public affairs series that reports on community-led initiatives across the U.S.

creating a more inclusive society.

Host Laura Flanders - a New York broadcast journalist, author and contributing writer to The Nation - talks with experts and people on the front lines of artistic, cultural, social and economic movements.

Each episode blends reporting with in-depth interviews of leaders in the arts and small business world, profiling individuals and organizations uplifting and revitalizing their communities.