The death of Tori Bowie has sparked conversations about Black maternal health in the United States. Of the people speaking out is one of her Olympic teammates who posted an unfortunate and shocking statistic about their team.
Tianna Madison, who ran the 4×100 Olympic relay event at the 2016 Olympics with Allyson Felix and Bowie, shared her thoughts on Instagram on Tuesday.
"THREE (3) of the FOUR (4) of us who ran on the SECOND fastest 4x100m relay of all time, the 2016 Olympic Champions, have nearly died or died in childbirth," the Olympian said, referencing herself, Bowie, and Felix.
"WTF. Why? Black women have the HIGHEST maternal mortality rate. 3 times higher than white women. And the more educated the black woman, the higher her mortality rate becomes. In fact, even though I went into labor at 26 weeks we went to the hospital with my medical advance directive AND my will. Additionally I had a VERY tough conversation with @cwryaniii about who to save if it came down to it. I was NOT AT ALL confident that I’d be coming home," Madison added.
Felix has been vocal about her pregnancy and postpartum journey, recalling how she underwent an emergency C-section after she was diagnosed with preeclampsia at 32 weeks, according to E! News. An autopsy report recently revealed that Bowie likely had eclampsia and respiratory distress.
Preeclampsia is the diagnosis of high blood pressure and protein in the urine after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Eclampsia can result in a stroke or coma, both potentially life threatening.
"There are two reasons why I did make it," Madison continued in her Instagram post. "1) knowledge- I was all too aware of the disparity and communicated this to my partner so we could go in eyes wide open 2) since I was busy dying. Chuck had to advocate for me and he did. Even though we agreed about who his priority would be in an emergency situation he did not take no for an answer from the doctors and as a result saved me AND the baby."
Felix commented on Madison's post, adding her thoughts on the issue.
"We continue to face a maternity mortality crisis in this country," Felix wrote. "Black women are at risk. It's why I won't stop doing this work. We can't sit by and continue to watch our loved ones die when many of these complications are preventable. Standing with you T."
As Mom.com previously reported, Bowie gave birth to a baby girl who was stillborn. She weighed 1.8 pounds and was 16 inches long.
