via Pixabay
There’s no way around it - the state of Black maternal and infant health in this country is abysmal. Black infants are more than twice as likely to die as white ones, no matter how much education or income Black women gain.
And Black women die at a rate over three times as high as white women during childbirth.
According to 2014 rankings by the World Health Organization, the U.S. rated worse than Turkey and Iran even though it spends way more money on healthcare. So, why are Black women more at risk?
One reason is Black women have more complications around childbirth due to conditions like uterine fibroids, high blood pressure, and “weathering” from chronic stress.
Another reason is that hospitals that primarily serve Black people are more likely to provide poorer quality maternity care and get bad grades on health outcomes like maternal mortality, which is a crystal clear example of structural racism.
And those are just a few of the many reasons why Black women unnecessarily die from childbirth.
Some states are considering ways to address this complex problem, like supporting doulas, professionally trained women who provide deep support for mothers-to-be.
But the problem of maternal mortality in our community is a critical issue, affecting our communities every day, so it's crucial that we know exactly what’s going on, including potential solutions, so that we can fight for better treatment.