High mother and newborn morbidities and death rates affect Black people disproportionately because of systemic and overt prejudice. Black individuals performed worse than other racial and ethnic groups across all maternal health metrics, according to a new KFF research.
Compared to other racial/ethnic groups, they were more likely to experience preterm deliveries and low birthweight infants. Black people were more likely than all other groups to pass away while pregnant or within a year of giving birth, and Black newborns had a mortality rate that was double that of White infants.
According to a recent CDC analysis, these inequities were made worse during the pandemic, with Black individuals reporting maternal mortality rates that were more than twice as high as the national average and significantly higher than pre-pandemic rates.
The rates have risen to a 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births that is two times the rate for non-Hispanic people as of 2020 and it keeps increasing.
U.S. Maternal Morbidity rate is the highest in all industrialized nations. ODC estimates this year that black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than white and Hispanic women.
Tanya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiselt artists of the new series “Aftershock” on HULU had more to share on the matter as Aftershock represented all the issues that black pregnant women go through.
Tanya says in other industrial nations, midwifery is integrated in women’s care and U.S is the only nation that does not have it for black women.
Puala continues by saying that “we need more midwives in the system especially more midwives of color.” Their is also need of Doula care which is a Doula’s advocate that comes with women to the hospital or any birth setting for the birth women to advocate for themselves.
Often when black women show up looking for help or not feeling well, they are commonly dismissed. Black women are not seen or heard when looking for their own health care, as the society does not want to listen to them.
They are also often treated by those who are generally gaining experience in the sector as interns which causes more risk of death than the white who are the total opposite.
Maternal Morbidity crisis did not just pop out of nowhere as it was part of a historical continuation from 1619 that has devalued and dehumanized black women, and it started during the slavery time when black women were experimented on.
It is up to the 20th Centaury where the black midwives were eradicated and white men came taking over the profession of Birthing.
