The Black maternal health crisis continues to rear its ugly head. Olympic gold medalist #ToriBowie, passed away in her home on May 2nd at just 32 years old. She was 8 months pregnant and appeared to have been undergoing labor at the time of her death. Her family reached out to police to conduct a welfare check after not hearing from her for a few days and she was found alone.
This news has taken her family, as well as her teammates who have become like family, by unpleasant surprise and teammate Allyson Felix is calling for better maternal care for Black women.
A fan tweeted that as of May 2023, 3 out of 4 meme beds of the U.S. 4×100 relay team had either died or had near death experiences while giving birth to which Felix responded, “It’s absolutely heartbreaking. We continue to face a black maternal mortality crisis in this country. My heart aches. We have to do more.”
Felix went on to tweet an article she did with @Time where she explained that Bowie’s death is a wake-up call to the Black maternal mortality crisis.
“These are my teammates. We are Olympic champions,” she began. “Three of us tried to give birth. Two of us experienced near-death complications. One of us died. We have to, and we will do more. Tori’s death cannot and will not be in vain.”
Our hearts are with Bowie’s family as well as the families of those closest to her during this unspeakable tragedy 🙏🏾 #BWLM💕
