The U.S. has a maternal, infant health crisis. That’s why we’re covering it.

The United States has a maternal health crisis, with alarming mortality rates.

Maternal deaths in the country have more than doubled over the course of two decades. Women of color are adversely affected. Research shows medical racism is happening to Black mothers during what should be among life’s joyful moments. Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white women, lose more infants in the first year of life and have higher rates of preterm birth and stillbirth, compared to white women. 

• Black infant mortality rates spiked in Detroit after record low in 2019

It’s only worsened during the pandemic. In Michigan, one of the states we cover, Black women were 2.8 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes (29.8 and 10.7 per 100,000 live births, respectively). Black infants aren’t faring well either. In 2021, mortality among Black infants was 18.1 per 1,000 — among the highest rates the city has seen.

In New York State, the infant mortality rate in New York has been on an overall decline, but the rate for non-Hispanic Black infants inched up slightly in the last few years from 8.37 to 8.46 deaths per 1,000 live births.

• Gov. Hochul seeks to improve infant, maternal mortality rates in New York
• UB, Oishei Children’s Hospital part of $18.8 million study on maternal health inequities

Our bistate collaborative of journalism partners has committed to covering maternal and infant health and solutions to the infant and maternal mortality in part of its 2024 focus on health equity, with a lens on solutions. Our news outlets have covered this crisis before; we’ll delve deeper, reporting from the perspective of the people and places most affected.

• Four News Outlets to Receive Yearlong Training to Bolster Coverage of Nonprofit Accountability and Solutions

Our reporting will be bolstered by a fellowship awarded from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The fellowship program is made possible by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. Over the course of a year, experts will help us and three other newsrooms across the country improve our coverage of the role nonprofits and foundations play in maternal and infant health.

We’ll do other stories on this important topic, too, and hope you’ll be reading.