Katie Couric

Yesterday, on “Next Question with Katie Couric,” we heard the devastating story of how one mother, Kira Johnson, became a part of a shameful statistic:​that between 700 and 900 American women die each year from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes. We learned that structural issues like racism as well as an increase in medical interventions during labor, have led to more women dying from pregnancy and childbirth today than they did 30 years ago. Today, in Part 2, Katie tackles her next question: What is being done to better protect American mothers, and particularly women of color? Katie talks to Olympic runner Allyson Felix who, in 2018, became one of the 50,000 women who nearly die from pregnancy-related complications. “Being a professional athlete,” Allyson says, “I just thought that will never happen to me.” Katie also hears from public health leaders like Dr. Debra Bingham and politicians like New Jersey’s First Lady Tammy Murphy who are actively trying to turn high maternal mortality rates around. To