Black Maternal Health Advocate Dr. Janell Green Smith Dies After Giving Birth

Only in her 30s, Green Smith was known as the “Loc’d” Midwife,” working with the nonprofit organization and app, Hive Impact Fund, serving as a robust resource during Black Maternal Health Week.

The healthcare industry is mourning the loss of South Carolina midwife and highly respected advocate of Black maternal health, Dr. Janell Green Smith, who died from childbirth complications shortly after 2026 began, The Grio reports.

Only in her 30s, Green Smith was known as the “Loc’d Midwife” and worked with the nonprofit organization and app, Hive Impact Fund, serving as a robust resource during Black Maternal Health Week. In a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $80,000, the fundraiser says donations “will help provide stability, relief, and care during a time when the family needs it most” as her husband, Daiquan, and newborn grieve such a devastating loss. “Every kind gesture, word, donation, and prayer is deeply felt and appreciated more than we can express,” the campaign reads.

In an April 2024 Instagram post, Green Smith discussed the importance of midwifery care, especially for Black women, and what brought her to practice. She provided the statistic that Black women are three times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth than any other race. “In hearing these alarming statistics, I wanted to do something about it. I wanted to be a part of the solution and step into a role as the provider that would listen to my patients when they were in pain,” she said.

“I wanted to be the provider that would answer the questions and that will go above and beyond to allow my patients to feel comfortable in their journey of pregnancy and in labor.”

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The discussion of Black maternal health and having a midwife has been at the forefront for Black women for decades, but it seems like heightened advocacy sparked a recent decline in deaths. Data from the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health revealed that fatalities decreased from 817 in 2022 in comparison to 669 in 2023. Unfortunately, research that would seemingly keep these numbers from climbing was cut short by the Trump administration.

In March 2025, a $2.4 million grant for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was cut, with officials claiming that priorities were being shifted — and research would not significantly increase life expectancy. Epidemiologist Jaime Slaughter-Acey said the grant’s termination, which would follow over 500 Black women in Detroit, was “heartbreaking and, honestly, infuriating given the high rates of maternal and infant mortality in this country.”

The work conducted by Green Smith was praised over the years by industry leaders and nonprofit organizations such as the American College of Nurse-Midwives. The group labeled her loss as “the persistent and well-documented reality that Black women—regardless of education, income, or professional expertise—face disproportionate risks during pregnancy and childbirth due to systemic racism and failures in care.”

“We grieve Dr. Smith’s loss and recognize it as a profound failure of the systems meant to protect birthing people. In her honor, ACNM commits not only to reaffirming our values, but to intensifying our actions to dismantle racial inequities in maternal health, strengthen accountability in care systems, and work alongside Black midwives, clinicians, and communities to prevent future tragedies,” the group said in an Instagram post.