A large crowd of city and community leaders rallied on the steps of San Francisco City Hall to raise awareness over the city\u2019s disparities in Black maternal and infant health.<\/p>\n
San Francisco has one of the worst rates of Black maternal and infant mortality in the state, according to the city\u2019s Department of Public Health.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/LNM-20260415-BLACKHEALTH-01.jpg\")
Supervisor Shamann Walton speaks at a rally for Black Maternal Health Week in San Francisco on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. San Francisco has the highest Black infant mortality rate in the state, according to Walton. (Alise Maripuu\/Bay City News)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is highly unacceptable that San Francisco has the highest rate of infant mortality for Black women in the state of California,\u201d Supervisor Shamann Walton said in a speech at the Wednesday rally. \u201cWe have the resources, we have the people power to make sure that we change those outcomes, and that\u2019s why we are here this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, Black infants represent only 4% of births in San Francisco yet make up 20% of all infant deaths in the city, said Mayor Daniel Lurie at the rally. Additionally, of the 10 documented maternal deaths in recent years in the city, half were Black mothers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is a damn shame,\u201d said Supervisor Myrna Melgar. \u201cA damn shame in a city that has universal health care and has as many resources as we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rally was a part of Black Maternal Health Week<\/a>, an annual campaign across the country dedicated to bringing attention and action in improving Black maternal health. Several community organizations helped put on the rally, such as SisterWeb<\/a>, a group that provides doulas at no cost to Black pregnant women in the city.<\/p>\n Many factors behind disparities<\/p>\n The origins of these disparities, speakers said, are intersectional and cannot be pointed to one reason. Factors like systemic racism, from redlining to food deserts in Black communities, have impacted the health outcomes of Black pregnant women and their infants.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are fighting for the right to give birth free from the fear of facing violence, trauma and death in the process,\u201d said Dr. Katie Brown, and obstetrician and gynecologist at UCSF. \u201cThat means assuring that families have the opportunities to thrive, have access to healthy foods, have access to safe and affordable housing, and can live in communities that are safe.\u201d<\/p>\n After the rally, the group of Black community leaders gathered inside City Hall for a panel discussion on identifying solutions to the disparities.<\/p>\n They emphasized the importance of sufficient funding to support nonprofits doing the work to provide services for Black mothers, building community and more safe spaces for Black women who are expecting, and growing relationships between nonprofits and the government.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, we need an alignment,\u201d said Marlee-I Mystic, co-executive director of SisterWeb. \u201cAlignment between community leaders and city policy, alignment between health care systems and community-based care, and alignment between awareness and real investments in the solutions that we know are working.\u201d<\/p>\n As a city, San Francisco invests over $20 million toward maternal and infant health each year. But those investments have not reduced the racial disparities in maternal and infant health, Lurie said.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we know that in San Francisco, far too many black families experience disparities in maternal and infant health that are preventable,\u201d he said at the rally.<\/p>\n Efforts to improve maternal care<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/LNM-20260415-BLACKHEALTH-02.jpg\")
Activists hold signs on the steps of City Hall at a rally for Black Maternal Health Week in San Francisco on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Alise Maripuu\/Bay City News)<\/p>\n