Black maternal mortality and infant mortality is persistently high

By: Ngozi Cole | WYSO Posted on: Wednesday, August 28, 2024 < < Back to DAYTON, Ohio (WYSO) — When Diamond Smith gave birth to her child in Dayton, her experience was traumatic. Her previous pregnancies had gone fairly well, but this time, the 30-year-old mom felt like her concerns and needs weren’t taken seriously by her doctors, nurses and hospital staff. “You know how they say the statistics of white women get treated differently than Black women? Like, they really treated me like the bottom of the charts,” Smith said. “It was just bad. I was in pain. I was crying.” She recalled a particular prenatal visit when she tried to explain her heartburn to nurses and asked for help. “I’m throwing up blood,” she said. “It was so bad. I asked them, ‘well what can I do?’ (They said) ‘oh, nothing, you just gotta keep trying.’” Smith thinks she and her now one-year-old son barely survived the childbirth experience. “After I had him, every time I talked about what happened I would cry, because it was that emotional,” she said. “Like, I would never wish it on nobody.” Maternal mortality is a persistent threat to Black women and...