A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that the wealthiest women and their infants are more likely to have better childbirth outcomes than those who are not. Unless they\u2019re Black, that is, where new statistics reveal a disproportionate impact on people of color, regardless of income level.
\nThe study documents an unconscionable national health emergency. NBER\u2019s analysis covered nearly 2 million childbirths in the state of California over a nine-year timeframe. And it found Black infant mortality at the top income bracket is nearly 23 percent higher than that of white infants at the bottom bracket. It also found the maternal mortality rate for Black mothers at top income levels is similar to that of white mothers at the lowest.
\n\u201cThis evidence,\u201d the study\u2019s authors noted, \u201cimplies that policies seeking to achieve racial health equity cannot succeed if they only target economic markers of disadvantage.\u201d
\nWe\u2019ve known the obvious and egregious imbalance of maternal mortality among women of color, which should have already spurred a national call to action. Historically, limited access to healthcare, insurance, transportation and economic challenges have all played a role in marginalizing many Black women from receiving quality prenatal and postnatal care.
\nNow, the NBER study raises even larger concerns: Black families that can afford healthcare are experiencing higher rates of maternal mortality. Why?
\nExperts cite the effects of systemic racism regardless of economic status. Black women encounter \u201cuntoward experiences\u201d and face bias by medical professionals, conscious or unconscious. Some of these patients express concerns that their pain won\u2019t be taken seriously. Others fear hospital security may be called based simply on the color of their skin.
\nThese experiences deny pregnant Black women \u2014 those able to pay \u2014 from receiving the care they deserve. We can\u2019t ignore it; we must listen, learn and do the necessary work to minimize this community\u2019s unacceptably high risk of pregnancy complications.
\nTennis star Serena Williams\u2002said she wasn\u2019t taken seriously when a near-death moment threatened her pregnancy. She lost feeling in both of her legs and began to experience pain. Hospital staff initially dismissed her, but she insisted on having an exam performed in light of her past history of blood clots. Her doctor eventually agreed, and the results showed the presence of dangerous clots that required immediate surgery to save her life.
\n\u201cBeing heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life and death for me,\u201d Williams said at the time. \u201cIn the U.S., Black women are nearly three times more likely to die during or after childbirth than their white counterparts. \u2026 Many of these deaths are considered by experts to be preventable.\u201d
\nSuch statistics are likely to worsen. The U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will inevitably restrict OB-GYN access for all women in states where abortion is illegal. And new data shows rural hospitals are closing their maternity departments in record numbers. Between 2015 and 2019, nearly 90 of these divisions were shuttered across the country. By 2020, almost half of rural hospital centers didn\u2019t even offer obstetricscare.
\nNearly two years ago the Biden administration called maternal mortality a \u201ccrisis\u201d and outlined a series of steps to try and address it. There\u2019s been little action since to turn those ideas into action. We need leaders in Congress to respond with a sense of urgency and find solutions.
\nA collection of bills in Congress, known as the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, hopes to do just that by advancing initiatives to improve the health of Black women. Led by Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), the expedient passage of these bills will help save countless human lives. Over 250 organizations have expressed support for the national legislative package, including CVS Health, the American Public Health Association, the National Medical Association, March of Dimes and Johnson & Johnson, among many others.
\nRobust funding is needed to recruit and train medical professionals too \u2014 especially those of color \u2014 so that Black women in need of OB-GYN support can plan for pregnancies without fear of potential bias. Yet nothing will change until we accept that Black maternal mortality statistics in America are inexcusable.
\nWe have empirical proof that we are failing this community. The question lawmakers must ask themselves is: What are we going to do about it? <\/p>\n
Thehill<\/p>\n
Tags\uff1aBlack women, maternal mortality<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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