Black Maternal Health Week brings awareness to critical pregnancy concerns

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Black Maternal Health Week began seven years ago. The goal is to highlight and make sure that women of color can feel empowered and educated while they are pregnant. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the maternal mortality rate for black women was 70 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021. Black women also have higher rates of pre-term births, low birth weights and births in which they received late or no prenatal care at all. “It’s very scary because I fit the narrative,” said Ricayah Hayden, who is African American with two kids.  The CDC says there are many contributing factors to why black women tend to have more pregnancy complications, which include underlying conditions and implicit bias. Hayden says during her first pregnancy, she felt neglected by her doctor when things weren’t feeling right. “Feeling dismissive, so I would say, ‘Hey, you know I feel this way.’ Just like, ‘Oh yeah, well, that’s normal.’ And continuously saying that and then like it got to the point of where I feel like I was complaining, so when I did say something, it wasn’t taken seriously,” said Hayden. Distracted driver hits Campus...