Introduction
Journal articles, newspaper headlines, editorials, and thought pieces have been published about the Black maternal health crisis in the United States. The statement “Black women are three to four times more likely to die from childbirth than their White counterparts” has become a familiar topic of conversation. In the last decade, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, health care professionals in the United States are becoming more aware of the racial disparity in birth outcomes and how Black women are disproportionately affected. However, despite growing national attention and investment in addressing the crisis, stark racial disparities persist. Although the overall maternal mortality rate in the United States improved from 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021 to 18.6 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023, the progress has not been equitable, and Black women remain at disproportionately higher risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes (Ibrahim Sous et al., 2024). For White women, the maternal mortality rate decreased from 26.6 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021 to 14.5 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023. During the same time, the maternal mortality rate for Black women decreased from 69.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021 to 50.3 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023 (Hoyert, 2025).