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A Black midwife walks a dirt road near Siloam, Greene County, Georgia, carrying her kit on her way to a call, November 1941 (Jack Delano, FSA-OWI) — CultureTechLens
Young Readers

Photo: Jack Delano, Farm Security Administration, Public Domain, via Library of Congress (LC-DIG-ds-01272)

Black Maternal Health — Young Readers Companion

October 13, 2026 · Young Readers

CULTURETECHLENS · "Culture, Clearly Seen." · Black Cultural Intelligence

Cite as: CultureTechLens, "Black Maternal Health — Young Readers Companion," October 13, 2026. Source: CultureTechLens · culturetechlens.com

This is the young readers’ version of the CultureTechLens Essential Black Maternal Health: The Hands That Caught Generations, and the Work to Protect Them — same facts, same sources, plainer words.

A long time ago, in the rural South, most babies were born at home. The person who helped them be born was often a Black woman called a granny midwife. She learned her skills from older midwives, carried her tools in a bag, and traveled to homes day and night. In some Southern states, midwives like her delivered up to 75 out of every 100 babies. One Alabama midwife, Margaret Charles Smith, helped more than 3,000 babies be born, and she did not lose a single mother. A Georgia midwife named Mary Francis Hill Coley also delivered more than 3,000 babies, and a movie was made about her work in 1953.

A Black midwife walks a dirt road near Siloam, Greene County, Georgia, carrying her kit on her way to a call, November 1941
A Black midwife walks a dirt road near Siloam, Greene County, Georgia, carrying her kit on her way to a call, November 1941.Photograph by Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration. Source: Library of Congress (LC-DIG-ds-01272).

Later, new rules made it harder for these midwives to work, and births moved into hospitals. Hospitals have important tools, but something was lost: care from a trusted person who knew the family.

Today, there is a serious problem. In 2024, for every 100,000 live births in the United States, about 45 Black mothers died from causes tied to pregnancy, compared with about 14 white mothers. In Illinois in 2021 and 2022, the number for Black mothers was 78. Experts who study each case say most of these deaths could have been prevented. Often, a mother said something felt wrong, and she was not listened to quickly enough. Even Serena Williams had to insist more than once before doctors ran the test that found dangerous blood clots in her lungs after her daughter was born in 2017.

People are working to fix this. The Black Mamas Matter Alliance started Black Maternal Health Week, held every year from April 11 to 17. In Congress, Representatives Alma Adams and Lauren Underwood — a nurse from Illinois — started a group in 2019 to write laws that support mothers, midwives, and doulas. Their plan is called the Momnibus Act.

The lesson is the one the granny midwives taught: listen to mothers, write things down, and take good care of every family.

Citations / Sources

All sources accessed October 13, 2026. (Same citation block as the companion article, 01-article-black-maternal-health-essential.md.)

  1. Hoyert, Donna L. "Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2024." NCHS Health E-Stat 113, March 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/hestat113.htm
  2. Hoyert, Donna L. "Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2023." NCHS Health E-Stats, February 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2023/maternal-mortality-rates-2023.htm
  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Pregnancy-Related Deaths: Data From Maternal Mortality Review Committees in 36 U.S. States, 2017–2019." https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/maternal-mortality/php/data-research/mmrc-2017-2019.html
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Four in 5 Pregnancy-Related Deaths in the U.S. Are Preventable." September 19, 2022. https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/media/releases/2022/p0919-pregnancy-related-deaths.html
  5. Illinois Department of Public Health. Illinois Maternal Mortality Data Report. November 2025 (data: 2021–2022). https://media.socastsrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/2511/files/2026/01/maternal-mortality-data-report-2025.pdf
  6. Southard, Sophia. "Honoring African American Contributions in Medicine: Midwives." Inside Adams (Library of Congress blog), June 2020. https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2020/06/honoring-african-american-contributions-in-medicine-midwives
  7. Library of Congress, National Film Preservation Board. "Brief Descriptions and Expanded Essays of National Film Registry Titles" (All My Babies, 1953). https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/descriptions-and-essays/
  8. Library of Congress. All my babies...a midwife's own story (catalog record). https://www.loc.gov/item/2017604960/
  9. Women's Community Leadership Program. "Black Midwifery in the US." https://wclp.org/black-midwifery-in-the-us/
  10. Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, University of New Mexico. "Margaret Charles Smith — An Extraordinary Midwife." https://libguides.health.unm.edu/blogs/hslic/Margaret-Charles-Smith-An-Extraordinary-Midwife-92117
  11. Black Mamas Matter Alliance. "Herstory." https://blackmamasmatter.org/about/herstory/
  12. Adams, Alma. Dear Colleague letter supporting the National Black Maternal Health Week resolution, April 2018. https://blackmamasmatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Dear-Colleague_National-Black-Maternal-Health-Week-Resolution.pdf
  13. U.S. House of Representatives. H.Res.332, 119th Congress (2025–2026). https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-resolution/332/text
  14. Office of Rep. Alma Adams. "Rep. Alma Adams Hosts Black Maternal Health Mother's Day [Event]." https://adams.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-alma-adams-hosts-black-maternal-health-mothers-day-11-am-today
  15. Office of Rep. Alma Adams. "Adams, Booker, Underwood Unveil the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act." https://adams.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/adams-booker-underwood-unveil-black-maternal-health-momnibus-act
  16. Office of Rep. Lauren Underwood. "Biography." https://underwood.house.gov/about/biography
  17. Sports Illustrated. "Serena Williams Reveals That Post-Birth Complications Kept Her Bed-Ridden for Six Weeks." January 10, 2018. https://www.si.com/tennis/2018/01/10/serena-williams-post-birth-complications-blood-clots
  18. Associated Press. "Serena Williams says she had health scare after baby's birth." January 10, 2018. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/2018/01/10/serena-williams-says-she-had/10556992007/
  19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hear Her Campaign. "Recognizing Urgent Pregnancy-Related Warning Signs." http://cdc.gov/hearher/news-media/article-urgent-warning-signs.html
  20. Delano, Jack (photographer). "Siloam, Greene County, Ga. (vicinity). Midwife going on a call, carrying her kit." November 1941. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011661538/

Chicago-style citation: CultureTechLens, “Black Maternal Health — Young Readers Companion,” October 13, 2026, culturetechlens.com.

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