Tatyana Ali’s Advocacy Shines Light on Black and Indigenous Maternal Health

In 2016, actress and singer Tatyana Ali gave birth to her son Aszi. During delivery, Ali says her birth plan was ignored and she was restrained by several staff members while a doctor performed the Zavanelli maneuver—pushing the partially delivered baby back into the birth canal before an emergency C-section. Ali recounts the trauma, describing the bed “going buh-buh-buh-buh” and her subsequent loss of consciousness. The experience, which she later labeled “obstetric violence,” prompted her to speak publicly about systemic racism in maternity care. Ali is also slated to begin a new season of *Dancing with the Stars* on September 15.

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Federal data show 649 women died of maternal causes in 2024, with Black mothers more than three times as likely to die as white mothers. A JAMA study notes that more than 500 hospitals closed maternity wards between 2010 and 2022, contributing to “maternity care deserts” that affect over half of U.S. counties, according to the March of Dimes. In the South, roughly 40 % of counties lack adequate maternity services, disproportionately impacting Black and Indigenous women who also face higher rates of uninsured status.

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Ali founded Baby Yams, a business that creates heritage baby quilts and directs a portion of sales to the Birth Future Foundation. The foundation funds grants for Black and Indigenous birth workers, including midwives and doulas. Alabama midwife-to-doula Nadia Gramby received a scholarship from the foundation, enabling her to expand services in a region where many families lack local care options.

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Dr. Tamika Auguste, chair of women’s and infants’ services at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, emphasizes the need to confront bias and improve outcomes for Black patients. She notes that her hospital’s multidisciplinary team—physicians, midwives, doulas, nurses, and anesthesiologists—works together to address disparities, though financial pressures have forced the closure of one postpartum unit. Auguste stresses that intentional data analysis by demographic breakdown is moving the needle toward better care.

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• “The poor rates in outcomes of Black maternity patients is something that rocked us to our core.” — Dr. Tamika Auguste

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• “We are very purposeful in looking at outcomes with a lens of demographics of different racial breakdown of different types of data,” — Auguste. She

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• “Physician, midwife, doula, nurse, anesthesiologist, working together as a team. That is critical,” — Auguste. But

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• “They're this storytelling machine of the possibility, the hope,” — Ali. Baby Yams

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