"We're failing Black women the worst" - Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian laments rising maternal mortality rate in the US
Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, expressed concern over the alarming increase in maternal mortality rates in the United States due to the negligence of medical professionals.
Black women have a significantly higher risk of maternal mortality compared to their white counterparts, with a staggering three-fold increase in the likelihood of death following childbirth.
On March 16, the Reddit co-founder shared a tweet that compared the mortality rates of pregnant white women to those of Black and Hispanic women and He urged the American public to take action and work towards reducing this issue.
"America, this is a crisis. And we're failing Black women the worst (the disparity between race & ethnicity also exists when you normalize for education, wealth, etc because it's systemic)," Ohanian tweeted.
America, this is a crisis. And we're failing Black women the worst (the disparity between race & ethnicity also exists when you normalize for education, wealth, etc because it's systemic). twitter.com/JuliaRaifman/s…
Serena Williams nearly lost her life while giving birth Olympia Ohanian
Serena Williams bagged the 2017 Australian Open title under extraordinary circumstances. What makes her victory even more special is the fact that she was approximately eight weeks pregnant with her daughter, Olympia Ohanian, during the tournament.
In a personal essay written for ELLE, Serena Williams discussed the difficulties she faced during her pregnancy, the arduous process of giving birth, and the ongoing challenges of motherhood.
The essay, titled "How Serena Williams Saved Her Own Life," offers a poignant glimpse into the tumultuous emotional journey of Williams' pregnancy. The former World No. 1 shared that her pregnancy was unplanned, and that she had only discovered it two days prior to the 2017 Australian Open.
However, Williams' pregnancy and childbirth were not without complications. Her childbirth almost killed her. The 23-time Grand Slam champion opened up about the harrowing experience, revealing that she was not heard by the medical professionals present there and that she had to undergo four surgeries after the birth of her daughter.
"I spoke to the nurse. I told her: 'I need to have a CAT scan of my lungs bilaterally, and then I need to be on my heparin drip.' She said, 'I think all this medicine is making you talk crazy.' I said, 'No, I’m telling you what I need: I need the scan immediately,' " she wrote.
Nurses and doctors' neglect nearly resulted in Williams losing her life. This egregious oversight could have had dire consequences.
“Being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life or death for me,” Williams said