Detroit midwife clinic works to cut pregnancy-related deaths for Black women

There's the America you know and the one you may not. In our two Americas, we're giving you a closer look at troubling statistics regarding black maternal health. If you are black and pregnant, you're three times more likely than if you were white to die from a pregnancy-related cause. Black women in Detroit are at a distinct disadvantage because of more limited options for quality care by providers who look like them. Seven Action News reporter Amira David shows us the lone Detroit clinic bridging the gap simply by giving women an alternative. She's here now. Clutched in Patricia Pounsey's hand is a constant reminder of what's been lost.

So everywhere I go, I carry Nikita with me. The unthinkable happening to her daughter Nikita who'd enter a hospital but never emerge, she'd succumb to a complication that would leave her newborn Nathaniel and eleven of his siblings without their mom. Black women are three times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related causes. What is not working for black women? The state of birth in America is not working for black women. Charlize Snow is a midwife who was driven into the profession not long after having her own troubling experience. I personally was a statistic. I had a postpartum hemorrhage with my first child.

That's the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, but Snow says she was completely unaware. Why didn't you know? Nobody told me. Problem is. It is important that there's full disclosure. Because of heightened risk for subsequent pregnancies, studies show black women are more likely to experience poor communication, have their symptoms dismissed and pain mismanaged. In part because of implicit bias. What do we know about how midwifery care can impact maternal health outcomes? Midwifery care has proven it's safe, cost effective, quality care that improves birth outcomes.

There are 400 midwifery-led birth centers across the country, but not a single one is in the city of Detroit. Here, cradled in a home in a neighborhood off of McNichols, is a clinic working to change that. At the midwifery-run Birth Detroit, women are finding their voice. So is that a healthy, strong heartbeat? Yes. It is normal. Creating a joyful pregnancy. Oh my God.

Miranda and her wife, now expecting their first child, sought out the black-run clinic out of anxiety. You feel unsafe sometimes. You feel like if I ask this doctor or this nurse a certain question, they may not understand. Really, really important that we had someone that we can kind of relate to. Perfect. 110 over 58. One who looks like them.

Services here are so in demand that small donors in this community funded the purchase of this lot. The first phase, which will be here, the clinic will expand into a 12,000-square-foot birth center. This is going to be a game changer because it is going to expose our community to a new option. And to renewed hope for a world without history repeating. I'm Amira David, 7 Action News. Birth Detroit is still relying on funding from the community to continue with the development of the birth center. So if you'd like to help, we'll add a link to our webpage, wxyz.

com.

7 Action News, Detroit, Metro Detroit, WXYZ-TV