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Known as ‘Coach’ to everyone in the Farmington, Missouri, community, Gary Koch, 79, has made a lasting impact both on and off the basketball court. A Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee, he spent more than 40 years coaching college women’s and high school boys’ varsity basketball. Now retired, he is thankful for the wonderful care he received after a serious heart scare last summer.

When Paige’s water broke at 37 weeks pregnant, she was ready to meet her baby. It was a markedly different feeling from earlier in her pregnancy, when, at 25 weeks gestation, Paige underwent a surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital to repair a defect in her baby’s spine.

An all-inclusive approach across health providers and communities can help address the disparity in Black maternal mortality rates.

Black maternal morbidity and mortality rates in the United States have reached alarming levels, revealing a profound and systemic disparity in health care outcomes. Nationally, Black women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sophia suffered from epilepsy that for years disrupted her life and put severe limitations on her future. But after receiving a groundbreaking procedure from the pediatric neurology team at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Sophia, now 18, is seizure free.

The statistics are devastating: Sudden unexpected infant death is the No. 1 cause of death in babies age 29 days to 1 year old.