Opinion: How we can support Portland families from the start

When I lost my daughter, my first child, I realized I didn't need to lose her. What I needed was better care. I needed to be listened to. I needed to not be alone. I am someone who's had two live births and one stillbirth, and my experiences around pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum radicalized my thinking about care. There were people within the health care system who wanted to hear me, but if I couldn't access them, I couldn't get the care that I needed. And that contributed to my loss.

"More common than it should be': Black women face 3.5 times higher risk in pregnancy despite preventable causes"

SALEM, Ore. — As Black Maternal Health Week comes to an end, experts and advocates are urging greater awareness and systemic change to address the disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality among Black women in the United States. "Black women are nearly 3.5 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women in the U.S.," said Dr. Christal Crooks, a family medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente.