Just in time for Christmas, Allyson Felix shared the news that she and her husband, sprinter Kenneth Ferguson were expecting their second child. The retired Olympic athlete recently told TMZ Sports that this time around is “totally different.”
“It’s totally different,” the 11-time Olympic medalist in track and field star shared with the outlet. “I wasn’t dealing with all the drama from before. Now, yeah, I don’t have to train at 4 o’clock in the morning and do all that crazy stuff so that part is good.”
Felix and her husband already are parents to five-year-old daughter, Cammy. The couple shared the news that they were becoming a family of four in April of 2024 in a sweet Thanksgiving Instagram post.
With her first pregnancy, Felix, as do many Black women, had a traumatic experience that caused her to have to deliver early. At 32-weeks, the retired athlete had to give birth via an emergency C-section following a development of pre-eclampsia.
“I know a lot now and I kinda know the risks and everything that I experienced before,” Felix said to TMZ Sports. “So, that part, you know, that part is better.”
In part due to her own pregnancy experience and also with the loss of teammate Tori Bowie due to pregnancy complications, Felix has become an advocate for expectant Black mothers in an effort to help educate and change the statistical trajectory for the better.
“When I hear the statistics that almost 82% of black women’s complications and deaths in pregnancy are preventable, to me it’s heartbreaking,” Felix told NBC Sports in an interview. “But it’s also very hopeful that more needs to happen. I want to continue to do that. I want to continue to grow my company and keep doing the same things I’m doing.”
Per the Centers for Disease Control, in 2021, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births. This translates to the Black women having a mortality rate that is 2.6 times higher than the White women, which stands at 26.6.
Congratulations, to the Felix/Ferguson family! Like Cammy, we are excited that her prayers were answered!
Photo: Allyson Felix Instagram