Serena Williams’ harrowing experience following the birth of her first daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, in 2017 has gained renewed attention amid a growing backlash over a tweet blaming Black mothers for their high mortality rates during childbirth. Williams, one of the most decorated athletes in history, has spoken candidly about the life-threatening complications she faced and how her insistence on receiving the necessary medical care ultimately saved her life. The resurfacing of her story comes in the wake of comments from Joel Berry, managing editor of the satire site The Babylon Bee, which sparked widespread outrage online.
Berry’s now-deleted post claimed that Black mothers suffer higher mortality rates because they neglect prenatal care, abuse drugs, and fail to maintain proper health practices. His remarks, shared on social media, triggered a strong reaction, with many pointing to the structural racism and medical neglect that disproportionately endanger the lives of Black women during childbirth. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) underscores this disparity, with the maternal mortality rate for Black women nearly three times higher than that of white women—70 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 26 for white mothers, according to the most recent data.
Serena Williams’ near-death experience during childbirth has become emblematic of this issue. After undergoing an emergency cesarean section, she developed dangerous blood clots in her lungs, but her concerns were initially dismissed by medical staff. Williams, who had a history of embolisms, advocated for herself, requesting a CT scan that revealed the clots. Her persistence saved her life, a fact frequently cited by those calling out Berry’s baseless claims. In interviews and her HBO documentary, Being Serena, she described the ordeal, saying, “I can’t believe how much went wrong on the way to meeting her. … I almost died.”
In response to Berry’s inflammatory comments, social media users have been quick to counter his narrative. Many highlighted the systemic bias that Black women face in the healthcare system, using Williams’ story as a stark example of the life-or-death stakes involved. One user tweeted in exasperation, “Serena Williams, the greatest athlete of all time, almost died on the surgeon’s table. This isn’t about self-care—it’s about being ignored.” Another questioned the assumptions behind Berry’s wife’s views on maternal health, noting that drug use and prenatal negligence are not exclusive to any one racial group, particularly when studies suggest substance abuse is more prevalent among more privileged demographics.
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