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April 19, 2024
In the United States, the maternal mortality rate is 10 times higher than other high-income countries; nearly half of new moms label their births as “traumatic.” With a goal to improve maternal health care across the country, this week, tennis legend Serena Williams and American journalist and author Elaine Welteroth, the former editor of Teen Vogue, launched the birthFUND initiative. Both Williams and Welteroth endured life-threatening pregnancies, igniting a shared passion for maternal health that has crystallized in birthFUND.
The Fund’s core mission is to eliminate the financial obstacles that restrict the reach of midwifery care, ensuring that top-notch birth assistance is accessible and affordable to families nationwide. Midwives perform essential services as trained professionals, offering comprehensive care to women throughout the maternity cycle, from prenatal check-ups and labor assistance to postnatal care. Care can be provided in various settings from hospitals to home settings, making it more accessible to women from different backgrounds. The birthFund initiative will advocate for broader insurance coverage and acceptance of midwifery in order to increase access to accessible birth assistance and prevent unnecessary maternal deaths.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Maternal mortality is unacceptably high” across the world. The WHO reports that every day in 2020, almost 800 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. This translates to a maternal death occurring every two minutes in 2020. In the United States, despite advancements in healthcare, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes a worsening maternal mortality rate, falling short of other developed nations’ standards. Shockingly, over 80% of these deaths are preventable, signaling a critical need for timely intervention, high-quality care and increased awareness of maternal warning signs. Midwifery is offered as a pivotal solution in reducing barriers and averting pregnancy-related fatalities.
Despite their prominence in the worlds of sports and media, both Williams and Welteroth almost lost their lives giving birth, an experience that profoundly shifted their perspectives on the maternal health crisis in the United States. Their near-death encounters led them to recognize the gravity of the situation, prompting them to launch the initiative during Black Maternal Health Week, observed from April 11 to 17 in the US.
“Having babies in America was a wake-up call for both of us. Like many parents, and first-time parents at that, we never anticipated the harrowing experiences we’d have on the road to becoming mothers,” Welteroth wrote in Time Magazine. “We have both accomplished a lot in our lives and careers—from Grand Slams to history-making career appointments—needless to say, we can do hard things. But nothing made us feel as disempowered as being pregnant and Black in America, left to rely upon a medical system that is statistically failing people who look like us.”
The US has the highest maternal mortality rate of all industrialized nations. And Black women in America are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women, according to the CDC. This disparity in outcomes is likely due to variations in quality healthcare and underlying chronic conditions, both compounded by structural racism and bias.
“In the US, Black women are nearly three times more likely to die during or after childbirth than their white counterparts. Many of these deaths are considered by experts to be preventable,” Williams wrote in an essay for Elle. “Being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life or death for me; I know those statistics would be different if the medical establishment listened to every Black woman’s experience.”
Following their health challenges, the women united under their respective brands to raise awareness and craft actionable solutions. The early idea for birthFund arose form an Instagram birthday fundraiser Welteroth created in December 2023 to raise money for a Black-owned midwifery in LA. This fundraiser raised nearly $16,000 in under 24 hours, proving the potential for a larger initiative. BirthFUND has rapidly evolved into a formidable coalition, buoyed by the support of other influential figures like Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Kelly Rowland, Ashley Graham, Karlie Kloss and corporate partners like SoFi.
Serena Williams, renowned as one of the greatest athletes of all time, possesses a unique ability to leverage her vast fan base to advocate for maternal health. Beyond her dominance on the tennis court, she has become a powerful voice for maternal health awareness, drawing from her own personal experiences as a mother of two. The day after giving birth to her first daughter via cesarean section, her breathing became labored and she eventually underwent a CT scan that revealed blood clots in her lungs. With her ability to receive top notch health care, Williams was quickly able to be put on a heparin drip to save her life.
Leveraging her immense popularity and influence, Williams has employed a multitude of platforms, spanning social media, interviews, public appearances and entrepreneurial endeavors, to illuminate the challenges confronting women—especially minority women—during pregnancy and childbirth in the United States. Her partnership with Welteroth on the birthFUND stands as the latest addition to her expanding advocacy portfolio, aimed at educating and empowering women while urging policymakers and healthcare professionals to prioritize maternal well-being.
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