THE FIGURES HAVE BECOME ingrained into the minds of black women across America in recent years: For every 100,000 who give birth, about 41 will die within a year – roughly three times the number of white women who will succumb to the nation’s escalating maternal mortality crisis. Thousands of others will suffer severe complications tied to pregnancy or childbirth.

These racial disparities are driven by multiple factors – including a lack of access to quality health care – but researchers say they’re also rooted in the structural racism that women of color face throughout their lives. And as the maternal mortality rate and public attention around the issue have risen in recent years, some women are seeking alternatives to hospital deliveries, wary of a health care system that statistics show has struggled to adequately care for them.