Reaching for Reproductive Justice - the Maternal Mortality Disparity in the United States
This research poster was presented at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work’s research poster fair on Wednesday, November 28, 2018, where it was awarded 3rd place in its cohort.
The poster explores the causes and potential interventions to address the disparity between the maternal mortality rate for Black and White women in the United States. View poster in detail.
I feel it’s imperative to draw attention to the fact that enough research has not been done regarding this issue. Specifically, most research does not directly target the disparity with interventions; Rather, researchers investigate and prove the disparity. Interventions need to be investigated for Black women of middle and upper income levels to determine the true source of this issue, which persists across economic divides.
Inspiration
I became aware of the disparity in maternal mortality rates when listening to this episode of The Daily, a podcast by the New York Times. The podcast led me to this insightful article in the Times by Linda Villarosa.
Listening to the podcast, it became more and more evident to me that this issue is clearly related to race, and the research backed that up:
The fact that Black women who grow up abroad and move to the U.S. are likely to have lower birth weights and increased chances for maternal mortality than they would in their home countries;
The fact that babies born to Black mothers in the U.S. have lower birth weights than those born to Black women from impoverished West African countries;
The fact that this issue spans across so many characteristics (marital status, education completed, insurance status) but still persists among Black American mothers; The list goes on.
The reason this type of research is so compelling to me is that, sadly, there are still people who need to be convinced of the realities of racism. This is an issue that can’t be dismissed due to education or socioeconomic status when you look at the numbers. I hope that will be eye opening for individuals who are still resistant to the mountains of evidence that racism is in fact an ever-present factor in the lives of people of color.
Sources
Berg, C. J., Harper, M. A., Atkinson, S. M., Bell, E. A., Brown, H. L., Hage, M. L., William M. Callaghan. (2005). Preventability of Pregnancy-Related Deaths. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 106(6), 1228–1234. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=19120694&site=ehost-live
Gray, K. E., Wallace, E. R., Nelson, K. R., Reed, S. D., & Schiff, M. A. (2012). Population-based study of risk factors for severe maternal morbidity. Paediatric And Perinatal Epidemiology, 26(6), 506–514. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/10.1111/ppe.12011
Geronimus, A. T. (1992). The weathering hypothesis and the health of African-American women and infants: evidence and speculations. Ethnicity & Disease, 2(3), 207–221. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mnh&AN=1467758&site=ehost-live
Lassi, Z. S., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2015). Community-based intervention packages for reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality and improving neonatal outcomes. The Cochrane Database Of Systematic Reviews, (3), CD007754. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007754.pub3
Main, E. K., Cape, V., Abreo, A., Vasher, J., Woods, A., Carpenter, A., & Gould, J. B. (2017). Reduction of severe maternal morbidity from hemorrhage using a state perinatal quality collaborative. American Journal Of Obstetrics And Gynecology, 216(3), 298.e1-298.e11. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2017.01.017
Olds, D. L., Kitzman, H., Knudtson, M. D., Anson, E., Smith, J. A., & Cole, R. (2014). Effect of home visiting by nurses on maternal and child mortality: results of a 2-decade follow-up of a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatrics, 168(9), 800-806. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.472
Rosenberg, D., Geller, S. E., Studee, L., & Cox, S. M. (2006). Disparities in Mortality Among High Risk Pregnant Women in Illinois: A Population Based Study. Annals of Epidemiology, 16(1), 26–32. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/10.1016/j.annepidem.2005.04.007
Texas Health and Human Services. (2018). Maternal mortality and morbidity task force and department of state health services joint biennial report. Austin, Texas.
Tucker, M. J., Berg, C. J., Callaghan, W. M., & Hsia, J. (2007). The Black-White disparity in pregnancy-related mortality from 5 conditions: differences in prevalence and case-fatality rates. American Journal Of Public Health, 97(2), 247–251. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mnh&AN=17194867&site=ehost-live