Category: Press Clips

Dr. Green Smith’s legacy underscores the urgent need to address the Black maternal health crisis in the United States

Family Connects International joins communities across the country in mourning the tragic loss of Dr. Janell Green Smith, a certified nurse midwife, Doctor of Nursing Practice and maternal health advocate, who died during childbirth earlier this month. Her passing has reignited a national conversation about the persistent and deadly inequities facing Black women during pregnancy and childbirth.

Dr. Green Smith dedicated her life’s work to protecting birthing people—particularly Black mothers—by advocating for respectful, evidence-based, and culturally responsive maternal care. Her death, while bringing her first child into the world, is both a profound personal tragedy and a devastating reminder that no amount of education, advocacy, or professional expertise shields Black women from systemic failures in maternal health care.

“This is an unimaginable loss,” said Jade Woodard, Executive of Family Connects International. “Dr. Janell Green Smith spent her life fighting for safer births and better systems of care. Honoring her legacy means doing more than mourning—it means dismantling systematic inequities.”

Black women in the United States disproportionately experience adverse pregnancy outcomes, including maternal mortality, compared to women of other racial and ethnic groups. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 50,000 women in the U.S. experience severe pregnancy complications each year, yet Black women are at least three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women.

The overall U.S. maternal mortality rate increased from 20.1 deaths per 100,000 births in 2019 to 23.8 in 2020—representing approximately 861 maternal deaths. For Black women, the maternal mortality rate is approximately 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, the highest of any racial group, representing an estimated 1,800 maternal deaths. This number has continued to rise in recent years.

Health experts note that more than 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, underscoring the role of systemic gaps in care, failure to listen to patients, delayed responses to warning signs, and inequities in quality and access to maternal health services.

Family Connects International reaffirms its commitment to advancing maternal health through early, universal, nurse-led postpartum support, which has been shown to improve maternal outcomes, identify complications sooner, and reduce disparities across racial and socioeconomic groups.

Dr. Janell Green Smith will be remembered for her unwavering dedication to birthing justice, her compassion for families, and her tireless advocacy for safer, more equitable maternal care. Family Connects International calls on leaders at every level to turn grief into action and ensure that no more families suffer preventable loss.

To follow coverage of Dr. Janell Green Smith passing, visit: https://nurse.org/news/janell-green-smith-midwife-death-maternal-care/

FCI lost a major champion when Deborah Daro Tuggle died, of natural causes in her home in Morrison, Colorado, on August 18, 2025. Deb, as she was known to friends and colleagues, was an original member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Durham Family Initiative—what our founders, Drs. Ken Dodge, Robert Murphy, and Karen O’Donnell, first called the project that we now know as Family Connects International. She had already established her credentials in the child maltreatment prevention world as Director of Research for the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse. She was a nationally recognized scholar and advocate for child-abuse prevention policies and later, for early home-visiting models. Her insight and leadership contributed to the establishment of Healthy Families America, a fellow early childhood home visiting program.

Deb’s vision expanded to include universal mother-infant home visiting, the fundamental principle of FCI. She served on the FCI Board, and more recently was an active member of the Board’s Program Committee. Even as illness began to consume more of her time and energy, she participated in as many online Committee meetings as she could, and she made invaluable contributions to our cause as a member of the Search Committee which recommended that we hire our new CEO, Jade Woodard.

Untold thousands of mothers and infants have benefited from Deb’s work. Ironically, most will never have heard the name Deb Daro. But we have, and we are so grateful.

Jonathan Kotch, MD, MPH
FCI Board Chair

Big News for Maryland Families!

A new Workgroup on Newborn Home Visiting Services has been established thanks to the passage of HB0334/SB0156, a major step forward in supporting parents and newborns across the state.

The workgroup will bring together health experts, community leaders, and state agencies to examine how we can strengthen and expand home visiting services for newborns—ensuring all families get the care and support they need right from the start.

Sponsored by Senator @klewisyoung , Delegate Ken Kerr, the bill was officially signed into law by Governor Wes Moore. This bill would not have been pasted if not for the leadership and support of so many wonderful advocates, including Pilar Olivo (FCI Board of Directors member/Family Connects Frederick County Executive Project Manager), Stacey Brown(executive director of The Family Tree of Maryland/Family Connects Maryland), Jennifer Iverson (executive director of Child Resource Connect/Family Connects Prince George’s County), Jessica Fitzwater (Frederick County Executive)  and many others.

Stronger starts mean stronger futures!