I'm Jonathan K. Parton, welcome to K-Part.

According to the CDC, black women are three times more likely to die from our pregnancy-related

cause than white women.

Various factors contribute to the black maternal mortality crisis in the United States, from

lack of access to quality healthcare to systemic racism.

The powerful new documentary Aftershop dives into it all through the stories of three women.

Tony Lewis Lee, co-director of the film says one of the biggest problems is black women

not being listened to.

When women are expressing pain or expressing something doesn't feel right, they're often

sort of just pushed to the side and told, oh, you'll be fine, either rest or keep going

or doing whatever.

And black women just are not listened to or believed when they talk about the pain

and what they're going through.

In this conversation, first reported on July 6th for Washington Post Live, Tony Lewis

Lee talks about the other issues brought up in the film, the ancient and vital role of

midwifery, how men pushed midwives out of the way, and the unwilling role black women played

in perfecting the fields of obstetrics and gynecology.

Let's jump right on in and talk about the documentary Aftershop, your New Yorker and

the deaths of the two women whose stories you focus on were in your own backyard.

What brought your attention to Shimani Gibson, Amber Rose, Isaac, and this larger epidemic?

Well, first of all, I've been hearing about black women dying from childbirth complications

for many years.

...