Is There Racism in Maternal and Child Health in the United States?

Grass Roots Health

Many citizens of the U.S. think that they have the best health care system in the world. I have bad news for them: The U.S does not. It has one of the worst health care systems in the world. Of similar developed countries, the U.S. has the most expensive, broken, reactive, sick care system that yields some of the worst patient outcomes. Our sick care system has little to do with health.

Maternal and child death rates are often used as an indicator of the quality of medical care in countries around the world. So how is the U.S. doing in that area? It has the highest maternal and infant death rates among comparable developed countries. Further, the survival rates for Black American mothers and their infants are even worse! Black American women across the income spectrum and from all walks of life are dying from preventable pregnancy-related complications at three to four times the rate of white women, while the death rate for black infants is at least twice that of infants born to white mothers. We Americans should be angry and embarrassed!

What’s more, Black American mothers are twice as likely to have a baby who dies by their first birthday. Although other women of color also experience an elevated risk of poor outcomes—notably in American Indian, and Alaska Native (AIAN), and some Latina communities—available data show that racial disparities between Black Americans and whites are the starkest. What is going on?

In this episode, our host, Tim Jordan, interviews three young experts in the field to find out what is going on: 1) Duane Herron, 2) Tiffiny Jones, and 3) Elizabeth Williams. Is there racism in maternal and child health in the United States? Listen, learn, and find out!

Resources for this podcast:

1) Podcast: The Fractured U.S. Health Care System. https://1795group.com/episode/episode-2/

2) Podcast: Is There Racism in the U.S. Health Care System? https://1795group.com/episode/episode-4/

3) Article to Read: Racism Creates Inequities in Maternal and Child Health, Even Before Birth. (2021). https://www.childtrends.org/publications/racism-creates-inequities-maternal-child-health-even-before-birth?

4) Article to Read: Systemic Racism – A Key Risk Factor for Maternal Death and Illness. (2021). https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/ne/2021/systemic-racism-key-risk-factor-maternal-death-and-illness?

5) Article to Read: Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current Status and Efforts to Address Them (2022). https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/racial-disparities-in-maternal-and-infant-health-current-status-and-efforts-to-address-them/?

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Grass Roots Health is sponsored by the 1795 Group. www.1795group.com

Grass Roots Health is produced and hosted by Tim Jordan.

All three guests were booked by Tim Jordan. Artwork by Danielle Procopio. Audio editing and mastering by Christopher Stoll of Audio Flare Recording, Toledo, OH: https://www.audioflare.com/

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