Maternal mortality is a quiet crisis unraveling across continents. In 2025, the world has better technology, more awareness campaigns, and supposedly more inclusive healthcare, yet maternal mortality among Black women remains dangerously high. Whether in bustling African cities or diaspora hubs in Europe and North America, one pattern stays the same: Black women are dying, and too often, no one is listening.
This article dives deep into the realities of maternal mortality for Black women globally. From Lagos to London, Accra to Atlanta, we unpack how geography, bias, and broken systems converge — and what we must do to change the story.
The Global Pattern of Maternal Mortality Among Black Women
Maternal mortality is defined as the death of a woman during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days after delivery. While the world’s maternal mortality rate has generally declined over the last few decades, the gains are uneven. Black women are still dying at alarming rates.
In sub-Saharan Africa, where healthcare infrastructure often struggles to meet population needs, maternal mortality accounts for more than 70% of global maternal deaths. Women die from preventable causes such as hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, infections, and unsafe abortions.
But shockingly, the issue persists even in high-income countries. In the UK, Black women are four times more likely to die during childbirth compared to their white counterparts. In the U.S., that disparity is even worse — Black women are three to five times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes.
These aren’t just statistics. They are warnings — clear indicators that maternal mortality isn’t about geography, it’s about who is valued in global health systems.
Maternal Mortality Statistics
In 2023, the National Vital Statistics System under the CDC released updated figures on maternal mortality rates (MMR) for 2023, with breakdowns by race and ethnicity. While maternal mortality declined across all racial groups, the rate for non-Hispanic Black women saw a slight uptick — rising from 49.5 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022 to 50.3 in 2023.
Bias Is the Killer We Don’t Name: The Hidden Drivers of Maternal Mortality
Why are maternal mortality rates so persistently high for Black women worldwide?
In Africa, maternal mortality is often blamed on limited access to prenatal care, lack of skilled birth attendants, and poor infrastructure. These are real issues, but they only tell part of the story.
The deeper driver is systemic neglect. Many African women lack access to timely interventions like C-sections or blood transfusions. Health workers are overburdened and undertrained. In rural areas, distance to the nearest clinic could mean life or death.
In Western countries, the face of maternal mortality changes — but its root remains bias. Numerous studies show that Black women in diaspora settings are less likely to be believed when they express pain or symptoms. They are more likely to have their concerns dismissed as anxiety or exaggeration.
“I kept saying something didn’t feel right, but they said it was just anxiety. I had a placental abruption hours later.”
This quote, from a young Black mother in the UK, echoes the experiences of many others. Bias leads to delays in treatment, misdiagnoses, and fatal outcomes.
Whether it’s Lagos or London, maternal mortality remains a tragic intersection of inequality, race, and institutional failure.
Silent Aftermath: Mental Health and the Forgotten Side
When maternal mortality doesn’t claim a life outright, it often leaves long-term damage in its wake — physical trauma, financial hardship, and invisible scars on mental health.
Postpartum depression affects women globally, but Black women are less likely to be diagnosed and treated. In African communities, mental health struggles after childbirth are rarely addressed. Cultural expectations often demand that women be strong, grateful, and back on their feet quickly.
In the diaspora, Black mothers face a different silence. Many fear that voicing their emotional struggles might lead to judgement, or worse, involvement from social services. The result is the same: pain goes unnoticed, untreated, and unspoken.
It doesn’t just end with death. Its legacy lives on in the quiet corners of maternity wards, in the mothers who are told to stop complaining, and in the babies growing up without them.
We cannot reduce this if we ignore the mental and emotional toll that follows birth.
Global Strategies That Work: What Must Be Done to End this Trend in Black Women
To tackle maternal mortality, we need more than awareness. We need reform. Real, cross-continental reform that puts Black women’s lives and voices at the center.
Solutions that can shift the needle:
- Cultural Competency Training: Health professionals everywhere need better training to address unconscious bias, cultural differences, and communication gaps.
- Data Disaggregation: Governments must collect and publish maternal mortality data by race and ethnicity. You can’t fix what you don’t see.
- Community-Based Care Models: Programs led by doulas, midwives, and local birth workers, especially those rooted in the communities they serve, lead to better outcomes.
- Postpartum Follow-Ups: Mental and physical checkups must be standardized and covered by both public and private health systems.
- Listening to Women: The cheapest intervention with the most power? Belief. When women say something feels wrong, believe them. Act quickly.
Maternal mortality is preventable. That makes it not just a health issue, but a justice issue.
Final Thoughts: Why Every Life Lost to Maternal Mortality Is a Global Failure
The next time someone says maternal mortality is “just part of childbirth,” ask them why it affects Black women disproportionately. Ask them why women with PhDs and health insurance still die in rich countries, while others die in remote villages after hours of labor with no help.
Because maternal mortality isn’t a mystery. It’s not fate. It’s a function of who is believed, who is supported, and who is prioritized.
Ending maternal mortality for Black women is a global responsibility. It requires Africa and the diaspora to share strategies, amplify voices, and demand systemic change. It means viewing Black women not as risk factors, but as worthy of excellent, respectful, holistic care.
Until maternal mortality rates for Black women are no longer headlines, hashtags, or heartbreaks, our work isn’t done.
