" But it is worth noting that a high birth rate requires a generally healthy environment."

That wasn't true for Black or white women in the South in those days, particularly since the enslaved weren't allowed to fully recover after giving birth. The mortality rate was high but just a cost of doing business. Here's more info I just sent to someone else.

file:///C:/Users/RAC/Downloads/1073110520958875%20(2).pdf

If you can't read that, please send me an email address and I'll send it a different way.