Something Was Wrong podcast - Free on The Podcast App

May 22, 2025 S23 E14: Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice with Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, PhD, Founder CBMHRJ

*Content warning: birth trauma, medical trauma, medical neglect, racism, death of an infant, infant loss, death, maternal loss, mature and stressful themes.

*Free + Confidential Resources + Safety Tips: somethingwaswrong.com/resources

Center for Black Maternal Health & Reproductive Justice:

https://blackmaternalhealth.tufts.edu/

Center for Black Maternal Health & Reproductive Justice Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/cbmhrj_tufts/

Center for Black Maternal Health & Reproductive Justice Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/CBMHRJTufts/

Center for Black Maternal Health & Reproductive Justice LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbmhrjtufts/

Sources:

Addressing Transportation Barriers to Improve Healthcare Access in Arizona

https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/674794

Advancing Health Equity and Value-Based Care: A Mobile Approach

https://info.primarycare.hms.harvard.edu/perspectives/articles/mobile-clinics-in-the-us-health-system#:~:text=Mobileclinicsareaproven,thecriticalweeksafterbirth

American College of Nurse Midwives

https://midwife.org/

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)

https://www.acog.org/

Birth Centers in Massachusetts

https://baystatebirth.org/birth-centers

A Brief History of Midwifery in America

https://www.ohsu.edu/womens-health/brief-history-midwifery-america

Clinical outcomes improve when patient’s and surgeon’s ethnicity match, study shows

https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/clinical-outcomes-patients-surgeons-concordance

The Controversial Birth of American Gynecology

https://researchblog.duke.edu/2023/10/27/the-controversial-birth-of-american-gynecology/

'Father Of Gynecology,' Who Experimented On Slaves, No Longer On Pedestal In NYC

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/17/603163394/-father-of-gynecology-who-experimented-on-slaves-no-longer-on-pedestal-in-nyc

Governor Healey Signs Maternal Health Bill, Expanding Access to Midwifery, Birth Centers and Doulas in Massachusetts

https://www.mass.gov/news/governor-healey-signs-maternal-health-bill-expanding-access-to-midwifery-birth-centers-and-doulas-in-massachusetts#:~:text=GovernorHealeySignsMaternalHealthBillCExpanding,ExecutiveOfficeofHealthandHumanServices

Governor Murphy Signs Bill Establishing Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Center

https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562023/approved/20230717a.shtml

Helping Mothers and Children Thrive: Rethinking CMS’s Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model

https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/opinions/helping-mothers-and-children-thrive-rethinking-cmss-transforming-maternal-health-tmah-model/#:~:text=TheTransformingMaternalHealth(TMaH)Model&text=TheTMaHModelfocuseson,midwiferyservicesanddoulacare

The Historical Significance of Doulas and Midwives

https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-significance-doulas-and-midwives

Infant Health and Mortality and Black/African American

https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/infant-health-and-mortality-and-blackafrican-americans#:~:text=In2022%2Ctheinfantmortality,Figure2

Legislature Passes Comprehensive Maternal Health Bill

https://malegislature.gov/PressRoom/Detail?pressReleaseId=136

Life Story: Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy

https://wams.nyhistory.org/a-nation-divided/antebellum/anarcha-betsy-lucy/

Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Emergency Need for Updated Approach Due to Specific Circumstances, Resources, and Availabilities

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11643001/#:~:text=EtiologyandRiskFactorsof,insufficienttreatment%E2%80%9D%5B50%5D

March of Dimes

https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/about-us

Maternity Care Desert

https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/data?top=23

Maternal deaths and mortality rates by state, 2018-2022

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/maternal-mortality/mmr-2018-2022-state-data.pdf

Maternal Mortality in the United States After Abortion Bans

https://thegepi.org/maternal-mortality-abortion-bans/#:~:text=In2023%2CTexas'smaternalmortality,suffermaternaldeathin2023

Maternal Mortality in the U.S Declined, though Disparities in the Black Population Persist

https://policycentermmh.org/maternal-mortality-in-the-u-s-a-declining-trend-with-persistent-racial-disparities-in-the-black-population/

Maternal Mortality Is on the Rise: 8 Things To Know

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/maternal-mortality-on-the-rise

Maternal Mortality: How the U.S. Compares to Other Rich Countries

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2024-06-04/how-the-u-s-compares-to-other-rich-countries-in-maternal-mortality

Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2021

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2021/maternal-mortality-rates-2021.htm#:~:text=In2021%2C1%2C205womendied,20.1in2019(Table)

Medical Exploitation of Black Women

https://eji.org/news/history-racial-injustice-medical-exploitation-of-black-women/

National Midwifery Institute

https://www.nationalmidwiferyinstitute.com/midwifery

National Counsel of State Boards of Nursing

https://www.ncsbn.org/

North American Registry of Midwives (NARM)

https://narm.org/

Outcome of subsequent pregnancies in women with complete uterine rupture: A population-based case–control study

https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aogs.14338#:~:text=outcomesarerare.-,1INTRODUCTION,experienceacompleteuterinerupture.&text=Completeuterineruptureisdefined,completeruptureofthemyometrium

Pregnancy-Related Deaths: Data From Maternal Mortality Review Committees in 36 U.S. States, 2017–2019

https://www.cdc.gov/maternal-mortality/php/data-research/mmrc-2017-2019.html

Preterm Birth

https://www.cdc.gov/maternal-infant-health/preterm-birth/index.html#:~:text=Pretermbirthrates&text=In2022%2Cpretermbirthamong,orHispanicwomen(10.1%25)

Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current Status and Efforts to Address Them

https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/racial-disparities-in-maternal-and-infant-health-current-status-and-efforts-to-address-them/

The Racist History of Abortion and Midwifery Bans

https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/the-racist-history-of-abortion-and-midwifery-bans

Reducing Disparities in Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5915910/#:~:text=Severemorbidityposesanenormous,ofseverematernalmorbidityevents

State investigating Dallas birth center and midwives, following multiple complaints from patients

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/investigates/state-investigating-dallas-birth-center-midwives-following-multiple-complaints-from-patients/287-ea77eb18-c637-44d4-aaa2-fe8fd7a2fcef

The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9035352/

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR)

https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/

U.S. maternal death rate increasing at an alarming rate

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2024/03/u-s-maternal-death-rate-increasing-at-an-alarming-rate/

Which states have the highest maternal mortality rates?

https://usafacts.org/articles/which-states-have-the-highest-maternal-mortality-rates/

Why Equitable Access to Vaginal Birth Requires Abolition of Race-Based Medicine

https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/why-equitable-access-vaginal-birth-requires-abolition-race-based-medicine/2022-03

Zucker School of Medicine, Amos Grunebaum, MD

https://faculty.medicine.hofstra.edu/13732-amos-grunebaum/publications