Skip to content
RollCall logo

Podcasts

Why do Black American women die having babies?

"There has not been a year when communities of color — Black and brown people, indigenous people in our country — have not suffered disproportionately," and the issue of maternal and infant health is "top of the list for ugent attention," said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.
"There has not been a year when communities of color — Black and brown people, indigenous people in our country — have not suffered disproportionately," and the issue of maternal and infant health is "top of the list for ugent attention," said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
By Mary C. Curtis, Joanne Levine and Evan Campbell
Posted June 3, 2021 at 2:31pm

The United States has the highest — yes, the highest — maternal mortality rates in the developed world. Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues than white women. That is in keeping with other sobering statistics of racial health inequities revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mary C. Curtis sits down with Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the task force on health equity. They discuss why Black people suffer disproportionately and what is being done to change the equation.

Show Notes:

Recent Stories

Rogers arrives for the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the Defense Department budget on May 12. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Rogers earmarks money for nonprofits he helped launch

Republican Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, dives to tag out Democratic Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., at third base during the Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park on June 10, 2026.

Sporting it out  — Congressional Hits and Misses

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche leaves the vice president’s office in the Senate Reception Room to meet with Republican senators in the Mansfield Room in May.

Court extends block on ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., standing at center, and other senators pose for photos with staffers in the Ohio Clock Corridor of the Capitol during the annual Seersucker Thursday. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., also appear.

Photos of the week | June 5-11, 2026

President Donald Trump is seen after speaking during a Small Business Summit in the East Room of the White House on May 4.

Trump’s Wallet: From golf clubs to crypto, a decade of presidential finances

Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., talk at a Wednesday roundtable on their college sports bill.

Senate panel sets markup on college sports bill