NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — It's a concerning reality that has persisted for decades. Black women and babies are disproportionately more likely to die in childbirth than any other race.
That's why all 40 members of the Metro Council passed a resolution this week declaring racism a public health crisis.
It's meant to be one of the happiest moments in life. On any given day, a new baby is brought into the world. However, for Black people, the struggle after birth can be daunting or even deadly.
"The mothers that contact us are typically falling through the cracks, and we're there to fill those gaps," Founder of Lotus Program Experience in Knoxville, Femeika Elliot, said in front of lawmakers earlier this year. "Whether it nourishment, its emotional or physical support, it's very important."
Elliot discussed the disparities between Black women, women of color, and those from rural areas who are deprived of access to quality health care. She spoke peaking in favor of a bill that would emphasize maternal health.
The bill, introduced by Senator London Lamar, would create an 11-member maternal health equity advisory committee within the Tennessee Department of Health, with an emphasis on appointing members with experience working with grassroots or community organizations.
It's a struggle often echoed throughout Tennessee.
"There are a lot of health disparities," District 2 Metro Councilmember Kyonzté Toombs said at Tuesday's meeting. "One glaring one is the mortality rate for Black mothers during childbirth. They are more than twice as likely to die than their white counterparts."
It's the reason why Metro Council members approved a resolution during racism a public health crisis, on Tuesday.
"It's not a crisis that any of us here manufactured like this is something that's been a crisis for, you know, years or decades in this country," Metro Councilmember at Large, Delisihia Porterfield, said. "It is just acknowledging that it is a continuing issue."
The goal is to highlight racial bias when it comes to healthcare for Black women. Data from the Metro Public Health Department showed that in 2021, 15.7 non-Hispanic Black children died per 1,000 live births.
"It has been shown that healthcare professionals believe that Black women feel less pain,than white women, and there is no rational basis for that other than racial bias," Toombs added at the meeting. "There are a lot of disparities out there, so this is the Council taking a stand, recognizing those disparities and that systemic racism is a problem."