Olympic champion Tori Bowie is among too many Black women who have died from pregnancy-related complications

• Olympic champion Tori Bowie died from childbirth-related complications, according to an autopsy report.
• The CDC estimated that 84% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.

Three-time Olympic medalist Tori Bowie died from childbirth-related complications, according to an autopsy report obtained by USA Today Sports, which was later confirmed by her agent. Bowie was 32 years old and believed to be eight months pregnant and in labor at the time of her death.

The autopsy lists possible complications, including respiratory distress and eclampsia.

"Unfortunately, so many people, including the media, are making speculations that she did something to herself, which is very hurtful," Bowie's agent Kimberly Holland told CBS News. "So hopefully, now knowing the truth, there will be many apologies."

Bowie was found dead in her Florida home on May 2 after sheriff deputies conducted a welfare check.

"Tori was a champion...a beacon of light that shined so bright! We're truly heartbroken," her sports agency, Icon Management Inc., posted on Twitter.

In 2016, the track star took home three medals at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, including a gold in the women's 4x100 relay.

A preventable crisis

The CDC estimates that up to 84% of pregnancy-related deaths in the US are preventable. Despite this, maternal mortality rates in the U.S., especially among Black women, are astoundingly high.

In 2021, there were nearly 33 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the US. For Black women, that number more than doubled to 70. In states like Mississippi, where Bowie is originally from, Black maternal mortality rates increased by 25% between 2013-2016 and 2017-2019.

According to the World Health Organization, the maternal mortality rate in other high-income countries was around 12 per 100,000 live births in 2020.

Like Bowie, Black women disproportionately suffer from pre-eclampsia, which can turn into full eclampsia. It is a severe condition where high blood pressure due to pregnancy can result in seizures or a coma.

Bowie's Team USA teammate Allyson Felix had to undergo emergency surgery at 32 weeks because of her complications with pre-eclampsia. Beyoncé revealed that she also suffered from pre-eclampsia during her pregnancy with twins Rumi and Sir, which also resulted in an emergency C-section.

In an essay published by Elle, Serena Williams also wrote about her own near-death experience with childbirth, and how she had to fight for her own life. According to Williams, after telling a nurse that she needed a CAT scan to look for a clot in her lungs, the nurse responded with, "I think all this medicine is making you talk crazy." After demanding for her right to the CAT scan, the doctor did end up finding a clot.

A study of over 6,000 women conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine found that Black women who immigrated to the US still had lower rates of pre-eclampsia than Black women who were born in the country, giving weight to the idea that it is not race alone, but a combination of biological, social and cultural factors responsible for the higher rates.

"While we didn't specifically look at the impact of structural racism on health in this study, it may also play a role here," lead researcher Garima Sharma said. "Black women who were born outside the U.S. but immigrated to the country recently may be somewhat protected from the effects of discrimination because they tend to settle in immigrant-concentrated residential areas with increased social support."

Tina Suliman, a program officer at Johns Hopkins, wrote, "it is racism, not race, that is killing America's Black mothers and babies."

According to prominent medical organizations, like Harvard and Johns Hopkins' schools for Public Health, Black women disproportionately affected by health issues and disparities, like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

This is due to a number of factors, including discrimination from health care professionals who don't take their concerns seriously, a lack of access to necessary healthcare, and weathering the stressors of racism and discrimination which takes a toll on women's health, the organizations say.