By The Numbers

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These health-disparities we are seeing between African American and white women stem from a multi-tiered process.

With an increased risk to pregnancy complications already in place, the added negligence from doctors in caring for these women makes for problematic outcomes.

With a lingering implicit bias, health care providers are less likely to provide to black patients, causing frustration and mistrust within these patients.

In response to this mistreatment, black women that hold concerns are less likely to seek treatment and if they do, they fall back into the cycle of neglect from doctors.

This cycle has led to handfuls of health concerns that pertain mostly to black women. 

Below we keep an up to date list of resources, data, and statistics for those looking to learn more about the disparity in healthcare between African American and white women.

Statistics & Data

To Experience a Pregnancy Related Death

%

Of Maternal Complications Are Preventable

Of Maternal Complications Are Preventable

Published Studies & Articles

Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis

When Simone Landrum felt tired and both nauseated and ravenous at the same time in the spring of 2016, she recognized the signs of pregnancy. Her beloved grandmother died earlier that year, and Landrum felt a sense of divine order when her doctor confirmed on Muma’s birthday that she was carrying a girl. She decided she would name her daughter Harmony. “I pictured myself teaching my daughter to sing,” says Landrum, now 23, who lives in New Orleans. “It was something I thought we could do together.”

Black Mothers Keep Dying After Giving Birth. Shalon Irving’s Story Explains Why

On a melancholy Saturday this past February, Shalon Irving’s “village” — the friends and family she had assembled to support her as a single mother — gathered at a funeral home in a prosperous black neighborhood in southwest Atlanta to say goodbye…

About S. Lee Merritt

Civil Rights Lawyer

Lee Merritt, Esq. is emerging as a leading and influential new voice in the fight for Social Justice. A dedicated civil rights activist and trial attorney, Merritt runs a high profile national practice focusing on victims of police brutality, hate crimes and corporate discrimination. As an activist, he has championed police reform and community empowerment. 

Do you need more information or want to help? 

Our organization can help mothers and their families who have faced medical issues during pregnancy learn about the resources available to them, as well as learn about what action they may be able to take legally due to discriminatory health practices.  Contact us below by email or phone and our team can learn more about your situation and give you free and friendly advice.

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