Tori Bowie's death shows how pervasive racial disparities are in maternal health
The death of Olympic track and field star Tori Bowie, who died of pregnancy complications last month, has prompted questions about how a seemingly healthy, financially stable person could face such a tragic outcome.
Experts say that the racial health disparities that lead to maternal health complications for Black people persist despite a person’s economic status or clean bill of health. In short, it could happen to any Black person.
“Maternal mortality for Black women has nothing to do with health or economic status,” said D’Andra Willis, of The Afiya Center, a Black-centered reproductive justice group. “You could be the richest or the poorest, Black women are still three to five times more likely to die in childbirth than any poor white woman.”
Regina Moss, president of the Black women-centered reproductive justice group In Our Own Voice, agreed. “If this is happening to the Olympic athlete who’s likely doing everything she can do to have a healthy pregnancy, it’s happening to the everyday woman,” Moss said.
Bowie, a three-time Olympic medalist, was found dead inside a Florida home on May 2. An autopsy report from Florida’s Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office showed that Bowie died while about eight months pregnant with a “well developed fetus.” The report said there was evidence she was “undergoing labor (crowning)” when she died. The autopsy report noted respiratory distress and eclampsia as possible complications. Eclampsia is seizures that occur during or after pregnancy, and is a complication of the blood pressure condition preeclampsia, which may develop during pregnancy, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Bowie’s death has renewed conversations about the disturbing negative health outcomes for Black women, who are more likely to die in childbirth than white women and are more likely to have pregnancy complications. Allyson Felix, the most decorated track and field athlete in the U.S., was among scores of women calling attention to the Black maternal mortality rate after the death of her Olympic 4x100 meter relay teammate. She highlighted her own pregnancy complications in an essay published by Time on Thursday, writing that she developed preeclampsia and delivered her daughter Camryn prematurely via C-section in 2018. “I was unsure if I was going to make it,” she wrote. Felix also called attention to tennis legend Serena Williams, who said she nearly died after giving birth to her daughter Olympia in 2017, and superstar singer Beyoncé, who experienced pregnancy complications with her twins Rumi and Sir.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/tori-bowies-death-shows-pervasive-racial-disparities-are-maternal-heal-rcna89810
Not just poor Black women, ALL Black women. And before long, it will spread to ALL WOMEN if GQP gynoticians have their way.
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