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Journalist and “Project Runway” star Elaine Welteroth launched her “birthcare revolution,” BirthFUND, on Thursday, April 11, marking the beginning of Black Maternal Health Week. With the aim of addressing the Black maternal health crisis in the U.S., Welteroth partnered with Serena Williams to advocate for better outcomes for Black mothers.
“We’re done waiting for someone else to fix what’s broken. It’s on us to save us. One family at a time,” Welteroth emphasized in an Instagram announcement.
Simultaneously, Time published an essay co-authored by Welteroth and Williams titled “We Shouldn’t Have to be Willing to Die to Give Birth in the United States.” In the piece, the former Teen Vogue editor-in-chief and the tennis champion shared their personal birthing experiences and highlighted the alarming statistic of 3,400 women who have died since their own childbirths.
Given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s research indicating that Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, the urgency of BirthFUND, spearheaded by Welteroth, becomes all the more significant.
“Our experiences of childbirth in America were eye-opening. Like many parents, especially first-time parents, we never anticipated the challenges we’d face,” they explained. “Despite our achievements in various aspects of life, from Grand Slams to groundbreaking career achievements, we realized the stark reality: giving birth shouldn’t be a life-threatening ordeal.”
The essay further highlighted that nearly half of mothers in the U.S. consider their birthing experiences traumatic, emphasizing that the maternal health crisis is not a distant issue but a pressing concern affecting countless families nationwide.
BirthFUND is bolstered by a coalition of Founding Family Funders who have raised funds to support midwifery care for families in need.
Notable contributors include Serena Williams and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, along with Savannah James, Ayesha Curry, Kelly Rowland, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, and Karlie Kloss.
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