Women in the United States, more specifically black women, are more likely to experience complications and death from childbirth and postpartum complications. We see these numbers triple for black women versus white women, and double for black infants versus white infants. These numbers continue to stay relatively stagnant and are continuously perpetrated over and over by systematic racism, which prevails and rears its ugly head by denying access to adequate healthcare, even though the United States pays the most for healthcare for its citizens.
The United States of America is one of the worst high-income countries in fetal and maternal mortality rates. The average mortality rate of infants in the U.S. is 5.4 deaths for every 100,000 live births. This number is significantly higher than in other countries, such as Norway, Australia, Canada, and other high-income countries. Maternal mortality rates are also extremely high in America, with the national average being 23.8 deaths for every 100,000 live births.
These numbers disproportionally affect people of color, namely, black infants and women. In 2019 the CDC found that non-Hispanic black infants are the most at-risk, with 10.6 out of 1,000 live births ending in a fatality. Black women are three times more likely than white women to die in childbirth or due to childbirth complications. So, what could be the cause of these disproportionate outcomes?
The Commonwealth Fund recently completed a study, naming some potential causes of the high rates of fetal and maternal deaths. Chronic illnesses like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease may all be factors. These chronic illnesses are heavily correlated to lower economic status. The United States spends the most on healthcare, yet we see higher rates of chronic illness and infant and maternal deaths. So why is this?
It all comes back to the history of healthcare in America. The gaps in healthcare are systematic. Black women are most likely to be left out of the equation. Black women are not considered in clinical trials for chronic conditions like Uterine Fibroids, which disproportionately affect black women, cancer drugs, or other life-saving treatments. They are simply forgotten. So, when it comes to accessible healthcare for expectant mothers and women in general, there isn't much. And when healthcare is provided, black women's pain isn’t taken seriously. The story of Serena Williams shocked the world and put a magnifying glass on the issue of Maternal and Infant mortality. If a world-class athlete is not being listened to by doctors, who will be listened to? Brushing off women's concerns is not a new phenomenon.
Time and time again throughout history, we see that women's pain is taken with a grain of salt. From the stolen cells of Henrietta Lacks to the forced sterilization of black women in the 1940s to the 2010s, black women are disproportionately looked down upon in healthcare.
Ignored birth complications, systematic oppression leading to lack of healthcare, and lack of research are all reasons why these mortality rates are so incredibly high for black women and infants. The answer is more research, inclusion, and education. Educate doctors, nurses, and staff to be more receptive to black patients, and disregard all preconceived biases. Include those underrepresented in more studies to close the gap in treatments, and research the history of healthcare that leads to these dangerous ideas.
©2023 by UnjustMedicine. Created by Faith Phillips
Sources:
Maternal Mortality in the United States: A Primer: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-brief report/2020/dec/maternal-mortality-united-states-primer
The Commonwealth Fund
The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henriettalacks/
Johns Hopkins
Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2021
Donna L. Hoyert, Ph.D.
Figures courtesy of the CDC
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