Midwives
Amid High Mortality Rates Black Women Turn To Midwives
Aysha-Samon Stokes was so intent on avoiding another c-section or hospital birth that she said, “I told my partner if I can’t find what I want, to be prepared to deliver this baby at home with just me, him and our kids,” She then found a Black midwife in her third trimester and delivered a healthy baby boy on Mother’s day at a South Los Angeles Birthing Center. With a history of racism it is hard for pregnant Black women to trust the medical establishment. Many feel they are unheard by their doctors and are having unnecessary c-sections. In Los Angeles County, mortality rates among Black mothers from perinatal complications are four times higher compared to White women. Black infants are three times more likely to die before reaching their first birthday.
