skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NC Congresswoman Recognizes Black Maternal Health Week

play audio
Play

Monday, April 16, 2018   

RALEIGH, N.C. – Black women are three to four times more likely to die during childbirth than white women. It's just one startling statistic that has prompted the creation of the nation's first "Black Maternal Health Week," which runs through this Tuesday.

A group known as the Black Mamas Matter Alliance has launched a nationwide campaign to help address disparities in health care, resources and socioeconomic factors.

OB-GYN and fellow at Physicians for Reproductive Health Dr. Jamila Perritt, cites examples such as lack of access to prenatal care in predominantly black communities, and a lack of job and child-care flexibility to attend doctor's appointments.

"Black women often bare the brunt of these disparities," she says. "What we know is that it's not race, in and of itself, that makes a difference. It's structural and institutional and historical racism that has the impact."

Late last week, North Carolina Congresswoman Alma Adams and Sen. Kamala Harris of California, both Democrats, introduced legislation to recognize the inaugural Black Maternal Health Week. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, black infants die at a rate more than twice as high as white infants.

Perritt says some of the institutional racism problems are hard to pinpoint and address within the medical profession.

"When we talk about quality of care, we know that health-care professionals are more likely to make inaccurate assumptions about the ability of black women to utilize health information," she explains. "And this reduces the quality of care black women receive and puts our lives and health at risk."

Tennis star Serena Williams is speaking publicly about her experience with having her daughter and the medical complications that resulted. In published reports, she had to advocate for a CT scan to determine she had blood clots as a result of delivery.

Black women are three to four times more likely to die during childbirth than white women. It's just one startling statistic that has prompted the creation of the nation's first "Black Maternal Health Week," which runs through this Tuesday. Stephanie Carson reports.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …


More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021