Maternal deaths in the U.S. are staggeringly common. Personal nurses could help

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The U.S. stands out for its high rate of maternal mortality. It's a crisis that disproportionately affects Black Americans, and it's only gotten worse during the pandemic. But we do have tools to make pregnancy safer. NPR's Laura Benshoff reports on lessons learned from one longstanding program supporting new parents.

LAURA BENSHOFF, BYLINE: A couple of years ago, Lauren Brown had a high-risk pregnancy. Brown was over 35. She had high blood pressure, and she'd had a blood clot that could have been deadly. That required her to take a medication during pregnancy called Lovenox.

LAUREN BROWN: That's a blood thinner. So I had to do that - inject myself every day.

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