‘I felt so alone’: Las Vegas black women highlight health disparities

When Tiara Flynn gave birth while on active duty at Edwards Air Force Base in California, she felt alone. Her husband was deployed, and she felt like the area was a Black maternal health desert, she said. “What I found to be most difficult was finding that community, finding people that could support me, finding people that could help me along this journey,” Flynn said during a panel about Black maternal health on Wednesday. “I was just desperately seeking information and community to assist me since I felt so alone.” That’s when she discovered what a doula was, and she found one 45 minutes away to help her. Later, Flynn started Phenomenal Mama, a full-spectrum doula services practice in Las Vegas to help families throughout their entire reproductive journeys and help people feel that sense of community. Flynn was one of several Las Vegas women who joined a panel discussion hosted by the Biden-Harris campaign at the Doolittle Senior Center to highlight disparities in Black maternal health and actions that need to be taken to close those gaps. Health problems Black women are three times more likely to die from complications related to childbirth than white women, according to the...