On becoming the City of Motherly Love

Despite representing only 43% of births in Philadelphia from 2013 – 2018, Black women accounted for 73% of the pregnancy-related deaths over that five-year period. As of 2018, Philly’s infant mortality rate (IMR) mirrored the magnitude of its maternal loss. That year, the rate was 8.1 deaths per 1,000 births, vastly exceeding the national average of 5.8.