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Photo Essay | Black childbirth takes center stage for a young couple from Orange, New Jersey

SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY — First-time mother Ka’Cheena Lucas holds her new son Choyce Simms after a short but intense labor Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J. Choyce was born at 8:42 a.m. by contraction number three, a prediction that Ka’cheena had made during her pregnancy. (Brian Branch-Price/TheFotoDesk)

The act of childbirth is always an intimate one — filled with a host of emotions, from joy to pain.

Using his black and white medium, Public Square Amplified's Brian Branch-Price had the unique opportunity to do what only great photographers can — to almost not exist in the moment yet to be at the center of it. "For them to welcome me into that space was a crazy, wonderful experience," Branch-Price recalled, "It's unusual for that to happen unless the subject has a lot of trust and confidence.”

In this photo essay, Branch-Price takes the viewer through the final hours of pre- and post-birth of the first child for parents Ka’Cheena Lucas and Malcolm Simms from Newark, who are surrounded by family and friends and their trusted health care providers.

"Childbirth seemed very natural to me, but lately, there's been a focus on issues with Black women and birthing, and the infants not doing very well," Branch-Price explained.

For Black mothers-to-be, childbirth can bring trepidation and dread, and the research validates such emotions. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 83% of all maternal deaths are preventable, yet Black women in New Jersey die at a rate that is 7 to 8 times of that of their white counterparts

In New Jersey, the stark racial differences are borne out in alarming data: Black women in New Jersey experience a 3.5 times higher rate of infant death compared to white women, according to 2017 New Jersey State Health Assessment Data.

Research confirms that the root of the problem is the racialization of the treatment of Black women. Holding other factors constant — such as income and education — the fact of being a Black woman was the single factor leading to worse outcomes.

Lucas’s journey to motherhood was relatively smooth and without serious complications. But this is not the case for many Black women. Over the next few weeks, and in light of Women’s History Month, Public Square Amplified will look closely at what is driving significantly worse outcomes for Black women.

“We need to develop some level of outrage about this issue,” said Dr. Nastassia Harris, executive director of the Perinatal Health Equity Initiative, which she founded in 2018. “We should all be upset by what is happening in our state and we should be talking about it.”

MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY — Left, Malcolm Simms holds up photos of their unborn child while he and his girlfriend Ka’Cheena Lucas sit in the waiting area of their Maplewood doctor’s office on Thursday, January 3, 2024. The couple is expecting a baby boy in a few weeks. This is their first child together. (Brian Branch-Price/TheFotoDesk)

MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY — Left, Ka’Cheena Lucas rests on the examining table while her boyfriend Malcolm Simms embraces her during a prenatal care visit at her doctor's office, Monday, Jan. 15. 2024 in Maplewood, NJ. Lucas, in her remaining few weeks of pregnancy is experiencing cramping and other symptoms of the birthing process. Simms said he is “still processing there is a baby in your stomach.” Lucas responds, “Time to snap into reality bro.” (Brian Branch-Price/TheFotoDesk)

MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY — Left, Ka’Cheena Lucas and her boyfriend Malcolm Simms watch Dr. Atinuke Oluwatosin Asaolu examine Ka’Cheena and her unborn child during a well care visit at the doctor’s office, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Lucas, in her remaining few weeks of pregnancy is experiencing cramping and other symptoms of the birthing process. (Brian Branch-Price/TheFotoDesk)

SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY — Ka’Cheena Lucas reviews the baby’s monitor as well as contraction signals during pre-labor in the birthing room at Overlook Hospital, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Ka’Cheena’s pre-labor symptoms started about 12 a.m. and their son Choyce Simms was born at 8:42 a.m. by contraction number three, a prediction that Ka’cheena made during her pregnancy. (Brian Branch-Price/TheFotoDesk)

SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY - Malcolm Simms, right, and doula Tonique Griffin attend to Ka’Cheena Lucas as she labors at Overlook Hospital on Feb. 2, 2024. (Brian Branch-Price/TheFotoDesk)

SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY — Surrounded by medical staff, and her boyfriend Malcolm Simms, midwife Atinuke Asaolu delivers Ka’Cheena Lucas her son Choyce Simms at Overlook Hospital, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, in Summit, N.J. Lucas’s labor was considered short and she delivered Choyce by the third contraction, which Ka’Cheena predicted. (Brian Branch-Price/TheFotoDesk)

SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY — Father Malcolm Simms cuts the umbilical cord while first time mother Ka’Cheena Lucas and her doula Tonique Grifith look on in their delivery room at Overlook Hospital, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024 in Summit, N.J. Lucas’s labor was considered short and she delivered Choyce by the third contraction, which Ka’Cheena had predicted. (Brian Branch-Price/TheFotoDesk)

SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY — First-time mother Ka’Cheena Lucas holds her new son Choyce Simms after a short but intense labor Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J. Choyce was born at 8:42 a.m. by contraction number three, a prediction that Ka’cheena had made during her pregnancy. (Brian Branch-Price/TheFotoDesk)