Black Maternal Health Week, and the Organizations to get Involved with and Follow
It’s Black Maternal Week, April 11th - 17th, 2023. According to the CDC, black mothers in the U.S. die at three to four times the rate of white mothers. This is a staggering fact that displays one of the widest of all racial disparities in women's health. There is a general medical health disparity between white and melanated women that is well documented. For example, a black woman is 22 percent more likely to die from heart disease than a white woman and 71 percent more likely to perish from cervical cancer. The list goes on and on. When it comes to birth, however, the numbers dramatically rise. If you are a black mother, you are 243 percent more likely to die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related causes. Is this due to any other factor besides the fact that black women have, statistically, less access to healthcare? I think not. There is no data to suggest that black women are somehow more unfit to bear children than their white counterparts.
So, what is the problem here? I think the problem is black prenatal and post-natal care, or, more accurately, the lack of black prenatal and post-natal care. The solution is that melenated women must receive equal opportunity to healthcare as white women. In a national study of five medical complications that are common causes of maternal death and injury, black women were two to three times more likely to die than white women who had the same condition. In places like New York City black women are 12 times more likely to die than white. These are not outlier cases. This is the norm. This is the trickle down effect of a higher, systemic racism that pervades the government, at a variety of levels, and how it allocates its funding to the wrong channels.
The country as a whole is failing black mothers in their search for prenatal and post-natal care. The odds of black women “surviving childbirth are comparable to those of women in countries such as Mexico and Uzbekistan, where significant proportions of the population live in poverty.” We already know that the poverty that exists in the United States disproportionately affects melanted people. One factor, and a large factor at that, of what keeps black communities down is the hostile conditions that childbirth presents to black mothers across the nation. The fact that this nation’s healthcare is hostile to black mothers, and that healthcare in general is distributed unevenly to black women, compounds preexisting poverty. In a completely avoidable chain of events, the black community continues to lose its mothers. What comes after is the emotional, physical, mental, and financial strain that sets families back as they are already fight for their survival on a multitude of other fronts.
The byproduct of this inadequate and uneven healthcare for minorities is that the already poor are falling further behind as more and more mothers die and leave gaping holes in their families and communities. Black children grow up without a mother because the healthcare system failed her. Black children grow up without a father because the social justice system fails him. It is easy to see that without the proper infrastructure, such as the lack of a more robust black prenatal care system, poor black families will fall further and further behind, costing governments at every level more than they save with providing insufficient healthcare.
The common cause to the problem that plagues black prenatal healthcare is clear. The reason is systemic racism. This pervading racism results in “weathering”(accelerated aging due to disproportionate stress relative to their white peers), inadequate access to healthcare, reduced access to healthy food choices in black communities, unmerited bias in our medical’s professionals and the hospitals where melanted women birth. That this problem is racism is easy to identify once you see how these interconnected parts all work together to keep melanated people down.
The statistics are a clear warning bell to anyone who takes the time to look. They should ring in fear to any black childbearing women. But this problem won’t be solved simply by being knowledgeable to the problem Or by being rightfully afraid of how our healthcare system treat black people. We need to move the needle and ‘do the work’ to bring about policy changes and birth equity for our black birthing people. If we don’t, the problem will only get worse. The financial disparity between black people and white people will worsen. The anger will rise in the black community. Disconnect will grow in the white community. If we don’t share our stories and allow people to see the problem with black prenatal care on personal terms, the statistics will never be enough.
As a black wellness brand, CODDLE is doing our part, not only online, by spreading the word with blog posts like this, but behind the scenes as well. CODDLE was made for all the black mothers who felt unheard and needed more than they received with healthcare and education. With that said, the brand and the products we sell are not enough. CODDLE is a proud sponsor of NATAL @natalstories. NATAL is a docuseries about having a baby while black in America. We need to keep hearing these stories no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. If you're uncomfortable about these statistics and you want to help us make a change here's your chance.
Resources to read, watch, and organizations to follow
Resources to read:
Black, Pregnant, and Loving It
Written by Yvette Allen-Campbell and Dr. Suzanne Greenidge-Hewitt for Black mothers in light of their higher risk of complications during pregnancy, such as hypertension, asthma, and preterm birth.
Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America
Written by Nefertiti Austin, a pioneer of adoption in the Black community, this book tells the stories of the ups and downs of parenting for Black families in America today. This book helps start conversations when social issues, cultural bias, and racism influence the perspective that new mothers may have when bringing a little one into the world.
Mama's Little Baby: The Black Woman's Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby's First Year
Written by Dr. Dennis Brown and Pamela A. Toussaint, this book covers the health risks of Black pregnancy, adapting traditional recipes for healthy eating by mother and baby, the special needs of single mothers, spiritual, emotional, and mental health needs, and cultural information from previous generations.
Resources to watch:
Aftershock
Following the deaths of their partners due to preventable childbirth complications and medical negligence, two bereaved fathers galvanize activists, birth workers, and physicians to reckon with one of the most pressing yet unspoken American crises of our time -- the US maternal health crisis.
Birthing Justice
Giving birth is a battleground for too many Black women and their babies. Going behind the statistics, “Birthing Justice” places Black women at the center of the fight to fix a broken system for all women in this country. It focuses on the progress being made by those on the frontline of this fight and highlights solutions that can be replicated in communities across the country.
In Our Mothers' Gardens
Black women from across the globe unlock the stories of their mothers to redefine holistic lives rooted in radical self-care and healing in this documentary. In Our Mothers' Gardens is a documentary that celebrates the strength and resiliency of Black women and Black families through the complex, and often times humorous, relationship between mothers and daughters.
Organizations to follow championing change:
Blackmammasmatter @blackmamasmatter – supports maternal health policies, research, and policy changes.
The Black Doula @theblackdoula – educating on birth equity and policies.
Scared Birth Doula @sacredbirthdoula – everything related to melanated birth.
The Black OBGYN Project - @theblackobgynproject - is committed to addressing Black maternal health and disparities while promoting anti-racism, equality & inclusion.
National Black Doulas Association @ntionalblackdoulas – educating black women who want to become doulas to help save our black mothers.
Irth App @theirthapp – The Irth App allows black parents and parents of color to hear firsthand from other parents of color about their experiences with providers and hospitals
Bonus: Tools Made for Family Physicians
The AAFP’s Maternal Health webpage links to a collection of nearly 30 clinical preventive service recommendations that help family physicians make evidence-based decisions on a variety of maternity care topics, in addition to Academy toolkits on breastfeeding and postpartum depression.