"Unacceptable": Olympic Track Star Tori Bowie's Death Highlights Black Maternal Health Crisis

[Warpy]

4. She had opted for home birth

There are lay midwives out there with perfect safety records because they know how to spot potential complications early and make appropriate referrals. I have to wonder if she had a midwife, at all.

The midwives I know are no-nonsense enough to call an ambulance for a balky patient with mental health issues and pregnancy complications, no matter how motivated they are to avoid the medical system.

It sounds like she didn't fall through the cracks, she jumped through them and was allowed to. Our laws governing people with mental health problems being written by civil libertarians who think people who aren't capable of caring for themselves somehow will if left alone by the system.

This wasn't a medical failure, this was a legal failure leading to a suicide.