Don’t let the slogans or glossy advertisements, including those I appeared in, fool you—we are woefully behind in America when it comes to supporting mothers. Of the world’s wealthiest countries, the U.S. is the only one that still doesn’t require paid parental leave. We need that, plus affordable child care, and maternal and pediatric health care that is safe and accessible. We also need to address the startling fact that Black women are three times as likely as white women to die from a pregnancy-related cause, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
