Black women in Texas are dying with frightening frequency after childbirth

They are dying at a rate of up to nearly three times higher than that of white women

The Lily News
Jul 25, 2017 · 4 min read
(iStock/Lily illustration)

Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Madhumita Murgia.

Texas has the worst overall maternal mortality rate in the nation, and its legislature is considering a measure to extend a state task force that began studying the problem in 2013.

The 15-person panel initially looked at cases from the previous two years and identified 189 maternal deaths. Last July, it completed a report showing rates of maternal mortality had roughly doubled between 2010 and 2012 — and that black women were far more likely to become seriously ill and die during pregnancy or within the first year after having a baby. They are dying at a rate of up to nearly three times higher than that of white women.

The task force has yet to explain the root cause or recommend how to reduce the death rate. Member of the task force have said it needs more time to recommend potential solutions. The Texas Senate has tentatively approved a bill that would give the task force until 2023 to continue its research.

If the bill passes, the task force would also have to examine the health disparities and socioeconomic status of the mothers dying in Texas. The state — which did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act — has the highest uninsured rate in the country: 16.8 percent. The uninsured rate for black women is even higher.

Source: Center for Reproductive Rights

Nearly a third of black women older than 18 do not see a doctor regularly because of cost, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.


Marsha Jones quit her job as an accountant in 2008 to set up the Afiya Center, a Dallas nonprofit organization run by local black women to champion reproductive rights for women of color. And despite her work on issues including HIV, homelessness and domestic violence among black women in her city, she was shocked when she read the state task force’s report last summer.

Jones had lost her own daughter-in-law to cardiac disease diagnosed during pregnancy. The 55-year-old activist then helped to raise her young grandson.

“It’s not just poverty and lack of access to health care — it’s also our fear and limited understanding of the health-care system,” Jones explained. “We also have this thing about black women being strong all the time, so admitting you’re sick is a sign of weakness.”

Lisa Hollier, a maternal fetal-medicine specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital and chairwoman of the task force, agreed with Jones about obvious socioeconomic and racial inequalities. The panel’s report identified five factors linked to maternal death: diabetes, high blood pressure, late prenatal care, Caesarean delivery and obesity.

If the task force is given more time, the bill will require its panel to look at what other states are doing to curb their maternal death rates, find solutions to help women with postpartum depression and eventually develop a plan for a Maternal Health and Safety Initiative.


In the Texas House, Rep. Shawn Thierry (D-Houston) is pushing for lawmakers and health officials to focus more on maternal mortality, especially among black women. House Bill 11 asks the task force to look at “factors and health conditions that disproportionately affect the most at-risk population” and to evaluate options for reducing maternal deaths.

Thierry, a black woman, had a complicated delivery in 2012. She had a serious allergic reaction to a drug during delivery.

“A woman who chooses to bear life shouldn’t pay for it with her own,” Thierry stressed.

Thierry has spent the past two months drumming up support for the bill in Houston. She hosted a town hall for 120 people at a local YWCA chapter and did a tour of 12 district churches to educate them about the issue.

“In some ways,” Thierry said, “it’s still true.”

The Lily

The Lily was the first U.S. newspaper for and by women. We’re bringing it back.

The Lily News

Written by

The Lily

The Lily

The Lily was the first U.S. newspaper for and by women. We’re bringing it back.

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