New UChicago project aims to reduce Black maternal deaths

The program will connect Black pregnant women with Black midwives and support groups starting in June.

By Stephanie Kim
New UChicago project aims to reduce Black maternal deaths
Karie Stewart, director of midwifery services at UChicago Medicine, will lead a new study to reduce health disparities Black women are more likely to face during and after pregnancy. Courtesy UChicago Medicine
New UChicago project aims to reduce Black maternal deaths
Karie Stewart, director of midwifery services at UChicago Medicine, will lead a new study to reduce health disparities Black women are more likely to face during and after pregnancy. Courtesy UChicago Medicine

New UChicago project aims to reduce Black maternal deaths

The program will connect Black pregnant women with Black midwives and support groups starting in June.

By Stephanie Kim
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Maternal deaths rose during the first year of the pandemic by 14 percent, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics. But the mortality rate of Black women was nearly three times that of white women.

For Black Maternal Health Week, Reset learns more about the health disparities Black women are more likely to face during and after pregnancy and local efforts to reduce them.

GUESTS: Karie Stewart, director of midwifery services at UChicago Medicine

Stephanie Ivey, patient at UChicago Medicine

Felicia Davis Blakley, president and CEO of the Chicago Foundation for Women