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WASHINGTON -- A House hearing on reducing maternal morbidity and mortality among Black mothers started off harmoniously, as would be expected, but later devolved into disagreement over root causes of the problem.
"Our nation is facing a maternal health crisis," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, at the beginning of Thursday's hearing, which was entitled, Birthing While Black: Examining America's Black Maternal Health Crisis. "Across the globe, our maternal mortality rate ranks the absolute worst among similar developed nations and 55th overall."
Deaths Unequally Distributed
"The danger of giving birth in the U.S. is not equally distributed," Maloney continued. "The CDC estimates that Black women are more than three times as likely to die during or after childbirth as white women. Black Americans experience higher rates of life-threatening complications at every stage of childbirth, from pregnancy to postpartum. It doesn't have to be that way; CDC estimates 60% of these deaths are preventable."