RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — A South Carolina midwife lost her life to a cause she devoted an entire career to and it’s reigniting a national conversation on the Black Maternal Health Crisis.
Dr. Janell Green Smith advocated for Black people giving birth, but just days into the new year, she passed away while giving birth to her first child.
“When I see that it says somebody didn’t listen and somebody didn’t follow protocol. We see that over and over again,” said Latoshia Rouse with Birth Sisters Doula Services. “Oftentimes when those things happen, it happens more for Black and brown women. We don’t get the best of everything and everyone all the time. I think this is systemic.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, data show Black women have the highest maternal mortality in the country. They are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women. Health experts said that providers can reduce factors that contribute to pregnancy-related complications and death by asking questions to better understand their patients, understand the urgent maternal warning signs, respond to any concerns they might have and provide all patients with respectful, quality care.
“It was a top priority for me to find a woman I could identify with,” said Giszell Weather.
The 31-year-old Durham resident is 15 weeks pregnancy and this is her third pregnancy working with doula Natasha. It’s a critical resource, she said she needed during pregnancy and in the delivery room.
“That I could feel safe and focused on surrendering and letting my body do what it needed to do,” she said.
More than 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. The national conversation taking place around Dr. Janell Green Smith’s death leaves Black women questioning how to better protect themselves during pregnancy and childbirth.
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