This year marks the fifth year anniversary of the Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW) campaign. Founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, BMHW is a week of awareness, activism, and community building. While we’ve long known about the racial disparities in childbirth here in West Michigan through our research into health equity, we shine a light on 5 main reasons that we need to advocate for better black maternal healthcare.
- Black Women Are 3-4x more Likely to Die During Childbirth
The United States has some of the worst rates of maternal and infant health outcomes among high-income nations, despite spending an estimated $111 billion per year on maternal, prenatal, and newborn care. Nationally, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than white women.
- Underlying Health Conditions make Pregnancy more Risky
Black women experience higher rates of many preventable diseases and chronic health conditions including higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Black women are also more likely to experience reproductive health disorders such as fibroids, and are three times more likely to have endometriosis.
- Black infants in America are 2x as Likely to Die Before their 1st birthday as White Infants
With 5.7 deaths per 1,000 live births, the United States has a high infant mortality rate, and Black babies are in the gravest danger, with an infant mortality rate in 2018 of 10.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to a rate of 4.6 White babies per 1,000 live births.
- Black Women Receive Less Help For Postpartum Depression
Black women not only face a higher chance of developing perinatal mood disorders than white women, but they are also less likely to receive treatment due to factors such as fear of stigma, involvement of child welfare services and financial barriers.
- Black women are More Likely to Quit, be Fired, or Return to Work Early
Compared to non-Hispanic white women, Black women are more likely to quit, be fired, or return to work before they are healthy after giving birth due to inadequate leave policies. Furthermore, nearly three in ten charges of pregnancy discrimination were filed by Black women.
Black women need the resources, opportunities, and support that will enable them to protect their human right to health and life and to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. Maternal health disparities have many causes, but disparate social conditions, lack of access to quality prenatal care, and substandard maternal and reproductive health care are often key factors.
To learn more, read this brief from Black Mamas Matter Alliance, and GRAAHI’s Health Equity Index.
Sources:
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/america-is-failing-its-black-mothers/
https://blackmamasmatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/0322_BMHStatisticalBrief_Final.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/features/maternal-mortality/index.html
