NEW YORK -- Black Maternal Health Week kicks off Thursday. It's a national week of action to raise awareness around racial inequities in maternal health outcomes around the country, and the statistics are staggering.On March 19, Kathryn Hurley welcomed her second son, Raphael, into the world.'Holding him and feeling like, OK, I'm safe, I'm good, he's good, it was just like the biggest relief ever,' she said.
Lois Brustman, an OBGYN and maternal fetal medicine specialist at Mount Sinai West.It's a focus at Mount Sinai West, where Hurley delivered. The hospital system analyzes its own data to see where improvements need to be made.'We've been able to lower our C-section rates significantly and narrow that disparity,' said Dr. Desmond Sutton, medical director of labor and delivery at Mount Sinai West.