America’s Maternal Mortality Crisis, Part 1

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Long before COVID-19 hit the U.S. in early 2020, the American health system was suffering another crisis: alarmingly high — and rising — rates of maternal mortality, particularly among black women. In this country, an estimated two women die every day from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes. And 60 percent of those deaths could have been prevented. And now, the coronavirus is forcing tens of thousands of women to give birth in unprecedented circumstances — sometimes alone, and often without the support networks they need to stay healthy. In Part 1 of a special episode of “Next Question with Katie Couric,” Katie talks to Charles Johnson, whose wife Kira died in 2016 just hours after…