Black Maternal Mortality Crisis: Black Women Die in Childbirth at 2.6x Rate of White Women

CDC data shows Black women die from pregnancy-related complications at 2.6-3 times the rate of white women, a gap that persists across income and education levels. Serena Williams' near-death experience in 2017 — when nurses dismissed her concerns about blood clots following childbirth — brought national attention. The maternal mortality rate for Black women was 69.9 per 100,000 live births in 2021 versus 26.6 for white women.