It should be one of the happiest moments in rapper and reality star Remy Ma’s and husband Papoose’s lives, but it has now possibly become one of the scariest. In a scenario that has become terrifyingly familiar, on Wednesday, TMZ reported that Remy suffered complications from giving birth in the days following delivery of their daughter. She ultimately returned to the hospital because of excessive bleeding. Her complications required emergency surgery and multiple blood transfusions.
This follows initial difficulty conceiving, a miscarriage last year, and what Papoose described as a “tough labor” last weekend, which Remy reportedly endured naturally.
With this postnatal event, Remy becomes yet another in a rising number of black mothers facing life-threatening complications during or following childbirth. Last year, Serena Williams memorably suffered blood clots in her lungs following the birth of daughter Alexis Olympia. In October, expectant mother Kira Williams (daughter-in-law of daytime TV’s Judge Hatchett) died of a hemorrhage shortly after delivering her son.
Recent statistics revealed that the United States has the highest rate of deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth in the developed world. And those deaths are disproportionately higher among black women—up to three to four times higher, in fact. And by all reports, at least half these deaths are preventable, often by listening to patients and caregivers when they initially indicate that something feels wrong.
Remy was thankfully lucky to receive immediate medical attention, and her surgery was reportedly a success. She is due to be released in a few days and will be able to return to enjoying the daughter she and Papoose call “The Golden Child.” But her scare is indicative of an ongoing and deadly epidemic for black women aspiring to be mothers; one that requires not only awareness, but action.