New York City is home to some of the most advanced medical institutions in the world. Columbia, Mount Sinai, NYU Langone — hospitals that attract physicians from across the globe. And yet, Black women in New York City are dying from pregnancy-related causes at a rate that should stop every one of us in our tracks.
The Numbers Are Not Abstract
According to the New York City Department of Health, Black women in NYC are 8 to 12 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Not 2 times. Not 3 times. Eight to twelve. That is not a gap — that is a chasm. Nationally, Black women die at 3 times the rate of white women. New York's numbers are even worse.
"Black women in New York City are 8 to 12 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women — regardless of income, education, or zip code."
This Is Not About Access to Hospitals
One of the most persistent myths about Black maternal mortality is that it's a poverty problem — that if Black women just had better access to care, the numbers would even out. But research consistently shows that Black women with college degrees, high incomes, and robust health insurance still die at higher rates than white women without any of those advantages. Serena Williams — arguably the most physically prepared woman in the world — nearly died after childbirth because her concerns were dismissed by medical staff. This is a racism problem, not a resources problem.
- Implicit bias causes providers to underestimate Black women's pain
- Black patients' concerns are documented as emotional or non-compliant more often
- Structural racism creates chronic stress that physically degrades health outcomes
- Black women are less likely to receive evidence-based pain management
- Warning signs of preeclampsia and hemorrhage are more often missed
NYC's Specific Landscape
The disparities in NYC are not evenly distributed. Black women in the Bronx face compounding factors: environmental stressors, under-resourced hospitals, less experienced staff, and neighborhoods with higher rates of chronic illness that complicate pregnancy. Brooklyn's numbers have improved in some corridors but remain devastating in others. Harlem Hospital has made strides, but progress is uneven.
What Monstera Roots Does About It
We exist because this is a crisis. Every client we support is someone whose concerns we will not dismiss, whose pain we will not minimize, and whose birth plan we will defend in every room. We are trained in the B.R.A.I.N. framework — Benefits, Risks, Alternatives, Intuition, and doing Nothing — and we use it as a tool to ensure our clients make genuinely informed decisions rather than coerced ones.
- We attend all hospital visits with clients who request advocacy support
- We document interactions with medical staff when clients consent
- We train clients to recognize and name dismissive behavior
- We connect clients to maternal mental health resources pre and post birth
- Through Mama Doula Inc., we provide free doula care to families who cannot pay
What You Can Do
If you are pregnant or planning pregnancy: hire a doula. It is the single most evidence-backed intervention for improving birth outcomes. If you cannot afford one, contact us about Mama Doula Inc. If you are not pregnant: donate, refer, or volunteer. If you are a healthcare provider reading this: listen. Believe your patients. The evidence is not in dispute — your behavior in the room is the variable we can change.
Black maternal mortality in New York City is not inevitable. It is the result of choices made at every level of the healthcare system, and it can be undone by different choices. Monstera Roots is here to be part of that change — one birth at a time.
Jazmine Britton
Founder of Monstera Roots & Mama Doula Inc. Certified birth doula, lactation supporter, and maternal wellness advocate based in New York City.