01/10/2026
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Late last week, we learned of the death of Dr. Janell Green Smith, a certified nurse-midwife and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in South Carolina. Dr. Smith was a Black maternal health advocate, who chose to become a midwife in order to help combat the Black maternal mortality crisis.
The fact that she died in childbirth is not lost on us. It’s a heartbreaking reminder of why her work matters, and serves to further underscore its urgency. Black women are three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women, according to the CDC. It’s a crisis that has only been compounded by abortion bans in the wake of Dobbs; on Ms.’s running list of preventable deaths caused by abortion bans, Black women are disproportionately represented.
“That a Black midwife and maternal health expert died after giving birth in the United States is both heartbreaking and unacceptable,” said the American College of Nurse-Midwives in a statement. “Her death underscores the persistent and well-documented reality that Black women—regardless of education, income, or professional expertise—face disproportionate risks during pregnancy and childbirth due to systemic racism and failures in care.”
