By the time Elaine Welteroth neared the end of her first pregnancy, she was completely demoralized by the medical system. The former Teen Vogue editor-in-chief and television host was diagnosed with symphysis pubis dysfunction—a debilitating pregnancy-related condition that can make it difficult and painful to move—and felt isolated by her physicians. “I didn’t feel safe giving birth in the hospital,” Welteroth says.
Her concerns were valid. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed nation—a rate that has more than doubled in the last 20 years. In the U.S., Black women are at least three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy- or birth-related complication and are twice as likely as white women to give birth with little to no prenatal care.
