April 11th- 17th officially marks Black Maternal Health Week—a week-long campaign centered on activism, awareness, and community-building for Black mamas and Black birthing people. Elizabeth Dawes, Director of Maternal and Reproductive Health and Senior Fellow at the Century Foundation and Co-Founder of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, sits down to talk with us about the status of the Black maternal health crisis in the U.S. and the myriad, ongoing attacks to the Black community’s health, rights, and wellbeing from the new administration.

The U.S. maternal mortality crisis has seen an overall reduction in maternal death rates in every racial group except for Black birthing people-- due to racism and inequity at institutional, systemic, and interpersonal levels. This is despite continuous, targeted, and hard-fought advocacy since 2014. Solidifying key actors, distributing resources and funding, and amplifying direct, local care and Black-led initiatives can make a sizeable change and help tackle the persistent, systemic oppressions and health injustices disproportionately felt by Black individuals.

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