i don't think i've ever seen anyone more thrilled to be expecting. she was just so excited. >> i think that's also part of why it was so shocking, is because it was like, this is fine, she's happy, she's healthy, everything as good. and then -- >> black women in the united states are three to four more times likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts. >> everyone else has done better, but not african-american women. >> i remember being angry. after everything. that she's dead. just -- gone. >> the hospital ws in our neighborhoods, they don't offer the things we need. >> race itself is not biological reality. it's not race, it's racism. >> it's daddy, it's mommy, that's you in the belly. hopefully we'll be able to do

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kordell was very aware of the mortality rate of black women giving birth.

february 26th. she was receiving an award for a documentary that she did in harlem. >> she was on a stage. she said, i'd like to address the elephant in the room. i'm pregnant. and just to see the joy in her eyes when she talked about it. it was beautiful to watch. that's what i hold on to a lot. the next day, the next morning, we got up and headed to the hospital to have the scheduled c-section. the reason we ended up in this hospital is because the hospitals in our neighborhoods, they don't offer the things that we need. you know, sometimes i struggle with driving her in there, you know, like -- wow.

i just drove the love of my life to her death. >> black women in the united states are about three to four times more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts. a black woman who has more than a college education across the united states is five times more likely than a white woman to die in child bird. the united states is the only high-income nation where women are dying within a year of childbirth at a more frequent rate. everywhere else in the world, countries are decreasing the number of women dying in child bird. the united states, the numbers are going up. >> there's increasing evidence about issues related to structural racism and implicit bias. and we're hearing a lot of stories from women, particularly african-american women, who had pregnancy-related concerns and they simply felt that they were not being heard.

>> after she gave birth, she's like, it feels different, i don't know, i had a c-section before, it doesn't feel like that, it feels like something is wrenching around in my stomach. and i was like, babe, are you scared? she was like, no, i'm not scared, i just want to go home, i want this to be over. and that's it. we went in the hospital on thursday. they went and did the exploratory surgery. about 8:00 p.m. sunday, i gave her a forehead kiss, told her that i love her, and i'll be right here waiting for you when you get back, i said, i'm not going nowhere. that's the last thing i said to her. you know, alive, with a response back. >> okay? it's daddy right there, it's mommy, that's you in the belly,

yep. >> we had aspirations of getting married right after -- you know, when she came home from the hospital. we were looking forward to that, too, and getting a new home, and starting our family. moving in, living happily ever after. it was cut short. >> when you go to give birth as a woman of color, you should not be four times more likely to die than our white counterparts. that is absurd. but because we are treated differently, that's where the bad outcomes come from. in my private practice, i provide doula care. so i'm able to see the very stark differences between the treatment of women of color and white women. we are treated very different. when i say different, i don't just mean like, oh, i'm not coming into your room to see you. i come into your room and disrespect you, don't speak to

you like you understand what i'm saying. i've heard clients' information shared in hallways. i've had clients who have been left alone, no one came to check on them. so it's not just about pain, it's about the care that people are receiving, as well. >> maternal health is important not just for the woman, but also for the baby. so if we have healthy mothers, we have a really wonderful opportunity to then have healthy infants. in the united states right now, we know that black babies die at a rate twice that of white infants. >> everyone else has done better, but not african-american women. and it's very often blamed on them. many people still believe that there's something inherent about the bodies of african-americans that causes african-american children and infants to encounter difficulties from

birth. but it's not true. genetics don't govern this. what governs this is experience of the fetus. black children in the womb, fetuses, are already assailed by many things that they're going to encounter once they're born. environmental toxins can perpetuate, can not only harm the fetus you're carrying, but the fetus that your daughter ends up carrying. >> living in an environment where there's a lot of environmental toxins, heavy metals, lead, even pathogens, mercury, living there is not a choice. people don't choose to live in those areas, people live in those areas because they have been forced to live there. not only has racial segregation in housing not ended, it's actually increased. and their children pay a cost. unfortunately, the prenatal counseling that should warn women about these dangers often does not address these dangers in the very women who have the highest rates. and by not warning them, that

silence can be very deadly. it's not race, it's racism. race itself has no biological reality, but it does have a social reality. and that social reality causes people to be treated differently. >> solutions that we've come up with so far for many generations is to tell black people what we should do differently. we should finish school, we should go to the doctor, we should exercise, we should get married, we should plan our pregnan pregnancies. what the data is showing us is even when we do all of those things, we're still more likely to die in childbirth. even when we have a high school or college education, even when we have wealth. when people see us as broken, they don't value us, they don't trust us. we don't get our pain treated in a timely manner, we don't get our symptoms treated in a timely manner. we don't get treated, we're more likely to have a blood clot that does not get evaluated.

>> she was pregnant the week before christmas. we just screamed and cried. i'm just so excited and happy. she is going to be 30 in august. her fiance is abroad in london, studying law. he's been involved with everyone. so excited and so happy for the baby. >> i don't think i've seen anyone so thrilled to be expecting. she's just so excited and immediately jumped into, okay, what books do i need to read, what websites, what apps? >> prenatal care, she would follow her appointments, she would do everything they asked her to do. she'd say, the boy's doing great. she liked to call him the boy. the boy is doing great today. >> she was so excited. she was nervous a bit about some of the realities about what we know about this, but she seemed so confident, like, i've done everything, and it's going to be okay. that when that chain of events

started in june, it just -- it -- i think that's also part of why it was so shocking, because it was like, it's fine, it's perfect, she's doing great, she's happy, she's healthy, everything's good. and then -- >> so this is a mixed emotion piece for me. it's nice to see her handwriting. and here, august 12, this is aretha's birthday. august 20th, supposed to be baby jay's birthday. >> jay came eight weeks earlier than he should have been, yeah. that tuesday morning, aretha called me and said they were going to take the baby by c-section. they didn't want to take any chances with the baby. by the time i got to the hospital, the baby was already out. >> c-section, contrary to popular culture belief, is a

huge, major surgery. people don't realize you're getting split open at the midpoint of your body, going down to your innermost organs. it's hard to do anything, to move, to do anything after, for a while. >> she had been sent home that friday. because the baby came early, they took the baby to the nicu. she spent three hours or more with him. and while i'm waiting for her outside in the car, she sent me a picture with her and the baby. and then tuesday, we were planning to leave like around 1:00 to see the baby during the day. and then everything just went the opposite direction. while we were getting ready, she was about to take a shower, then she fainted. about 20 minutes after -- she fainted again. and we decided, let's go to the

e.r., because that is unusual, that you fainted twice in that short time span. so we got in the car and went. she had a few seizures in the car, a few short seizures in the car, i think. i don't know about seizures, she is just, you know -- then we got to the hospital, and -- she kept saying, mommy, can you please come with me? and they kept saying, no, hospital policy, you can't go with her. and she just kept saying, mommy, can you please come with me?

that was the last thing she said to me. [ baby crying ] >> oh, i'm sorry, sorry, sorry. okay, okay, okay. all right, all right, all right. okay, it's okay now. it's okay. >> i remember being angry. i was very angry.

at -- i was was was was was was that this happened, after everything we did to plan. after every precaution was taken. after every step that we took. after every class, after every -- everything. that this was still the outcome. not -- not just, you know, she had some injury, or she had -- that she's dead. like, gone. and not here to be her child's mother, that she was so excited about. and not here to marry the person she loved. and not here to be the amazing friend and daughter and colleague that she is. but just gone.

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♪ there's no reason why black women in this country are dying at four times the rate of death in childbirth? it's got a victorian ring to it. we should not be worrying about that anymore, yet we are. there's lack of urgency for a long time, but i'm happy to see now people are seeing it as urgent. i'd like to see it as even more urgent. so urgent that we are not content to do the hand-wringing but are focused on the possible, all the possible risk factors. >> the hard part for our movement for black maternal

health has really been to really think of racism as a root cause, to shaming black people when it comes to poor outcomes. i think the black lives matter movement made room for this conversation. talking about the impact of racism in police violence and mass incarceration, it's easier for people to hear me talk about it when it comes to babies and mamas, right? the language i'm using is the same language. our hope is with this movement we've been doing around moms and babies, it helps people see the same underlying oppressions are also causing police violence and mass incarceration. >> the beauty also of this moment is that people are stepping up. so many of my ob-gyn colleagues are like, you know what? i talk to my patients, and i know racism is harmful, and i am fighting for them, and they know i'm fighting for them. people are coming forward and saying, we are going to undo this. >> arika. she was an amazing human being.

she was warm, she was outgoing. she truly understood what it is to love god and love people, in the full sense. he brothers would refer to her as, we had the near-perfect sister. when i talk about her i'm like, i have almost a near-perfect daughter. she set her goal and her target. >> i look at the pictures in here, go through my phone, and each time that i look at kordelle, as much as i love my pictures, it knocks the wind out of me. to be able to see somebody that i used to kiss, hold hands, walk with, love. we planned to do so many things. you know, just get to the next chapter of life.

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