When it comes to childbirth, the United States stands out for having the highest rate of maternal mortality (the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) of any high-income country. One group within that crisis has borne the brunt of the worsening maternal mortality rate: Black women.

In 2021, Black women were nearly three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women, according to data from the National Vital Statistics System. The maternal mortality rate for Black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, which is 2.6 times the rate for their white counterparts. 

The root of the problem
Last year, the United Nations published an analysis of Black women's experiences in the Americas that concluded that "systemic racism and sexism in medical systems" were the main reasons they were more likely to face severe complications or death in childbirth, not "genetics or lifestyle choices" as some have assumed, the New York Times explained. 

The findings suggest that the "well-documented Black-white gap in infant and maternal health" can not solely be pinned on "differences in economic circumstances," said Maya Rossin-Slater, an economist studying health policy at Stanford and an author of the study, told the outlet. "It suggests it's much more structural."

Trying to find solutions
In 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives' Black Maternal Health Caucus presented an ambitious package effort, called The Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, to confront the crisis at the federal level. So far, only one part of the Momnibus has been signed into law, the Protecting Moms Who Served Act.

"At the heart of these investments is the principle that in America, every family has the right to thrive, a principle that begins with a safe and healthy pregnancy and birth," said Illinois Representative Lauren Underwood, a lead sponsor of the Momnibus. 

Firefighters extinguish a blaze near the City Stadium in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Properties were destroyed but no casualties were reported.
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Reverse-engineer some of 2024's Oscars Best Picture nominees and you wind up with a few eminently readable English-language books. Ready to get flipping?

'American Fiction': 'Erasure,' Percival Everett
Percival Everett, in the world of writers' writers, is a kingpin. With "Erasure," Everett skewered Black representation in the American publishing machine by embedding two narratives in the text. In Cord Jefferson's film adaptation, "American Fiction," inevitable adjustments were made to Everett's original book. 

Some, like playwright Michael R. Jackson, bemoaned the film's stripping the book of its teeth. Others, like critic and writer Lavelle Porter, admired "American Fiction," with Porter writing, "We've been trying to tell y'all about how dope this man's writing is. Now maybe more people will listen and read."

'The Zone of Interest': 'The Zone of Interest,' Martin Amis
Their titles are identical, but make no mistake: There are oodles of differences between Martin Amis' 2014 novel and Jonathan Glazer's 2023 film adaptation. For the book, Amis fictionalized Nazi commandant Rudolf Hoss as Paul Doll, who is stationed at Auschwitz and is one of three narrators. Glazer's movie undoes the fictionalization of Hoss and instead focuses entirely on the relationship between Hoss and his wife, Hedwig, and what their life is like living adjacent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Glazer's movie has been polarizing. Some critics have been moved by its inhumane artfulness; others, like Manohla Dargis in The New York Times, dubbed it "a hollow, self-aggrandizing art-film exercise."