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Black Maternal Health Week

Black Maternal Health Week is observed April 11 through 17 each year. It was founded and is led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, a Black-led policy, research, and advocacy organization. The week is intentionally timed during National Minority Health Month and begins on April 11 to coincide with the International Day for Maternal Health and Rights.

The 2025 theme was "Healing Legacies: Strengthening Black Maternal Health Through Collective Action and Advocacy." The framing reflects where the movement has landed: systemic advocacy, not just individual awareness.

The reason this week exists is documented in federal data. Black women die from pregnancy-related causes at a rate of 69.9 per 100,000 live births, the highest maternal mortality rate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States and approximately three times the rate for non-Hispanic white women. This is not primarily a poverty story or an access story alone: research has shown the disparity persists across income levels and education levels. Structural racism, provider bias, and failures to listen to Black patients when they report symptoms are recurring factors in documented maternal deaths.

The infant mortality rate for Black babies is 10.93 per 1,000 live births, more than twice that of white infants. Black women also experience higher rates of preterm birth, severe maternal morbidity, and pregnancy-related complications. These are not new findings. They have been documented for decades. Black Maternal Health Week exists because documentation alone has not moved the numbers.

The data, plainly

  • The maternal mortality rate for Black women is 69.9 per 100,000 live births, approximately 3 times the rate for white women. Source: KFF: Key Data on Health and Health Care by Race and Ethnicity
  • The infant mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black infants is 10.93 per 1,000 live births, more than twice the rate for non-Hispanic white infants. Source: CDC NCHS FastStats: Black Health
  • Black women are more likely than white women to experience preterm birth, cesarean delivery complications, and severe maternal morbidity. Source: HHS Black History Month Fact Sheet 2024
  • The disparity in maternal mortality persists across education levels: college-educated Black women still die at higher rates than white women who did not finish high school. Source: CDC MMWR
  • Doula support has been shown in clinical research to reduce cesarean rates, shorten labor, and improve breastfeeding outcomes. Many states have moved to cover doula care under Medicaid, though coverage is uneven. Source: Georgetown CCF BMHW 2025 analysis

What you can do this month

For individuals: - If you are pregnant, ask your provider directly about the warning signs of severe maternal morbidity: shortness of breath, severe headache, blurred vision, and swelling. Do not accept being dismissed. - Ask your OB or midwife whether your practice has a doula referral network. In states with Medicaid doula coverage, doula care may cost nothing. - If you have recently given birth, postpartum symptoms can appear up to one year after delivery. Postpartum depression and postpartum hypertension both require timely treatment. - Learn which hospitals in your area have the lowest Black maternal mortality rates. The Leapfrog Group's hospital safety grades are one public resource. - Support the Black Mamas Matter Alliance's advocacy work or donate to a local birth equity organization.

For providers: - Review your practice's rates of induction, cesarean, and episiotomy by race. Unexplained disparities signal a quality issue. - Implicit bias training specific to obstetric care is available through ACOG and through state-level perinatal quality collaboratives.

Resources

Sources

  1. Black Mamas Matter Alliance -- BMHW25
  2. KFF: Key Data on Health and Health Care by Race and Ethnicity
  3. CDC NCHS FastStats: Health of Black or African American Population
  4. Georgetown CCF: BMHW 2025 Recap
  5. HHS: Black History Month Fact Sheet 2024

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