Black women face higher risk of death during pregnancy

Union, New Jersey — The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate for a developed country: About 700 women die during childbirth or soon after every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Danisha Baughan delivered her first two children in a hospital, and said both times she felt neglected. A week before she was due to give birth to her third child, the 38-year-old said this time she was going to a birthing center.

"I can't. The hospital thing. I can't do it. I don't want to," she said. "Because of my fear that I'm not going to be taken care of … Even worse, not make it through the pregnancy."