The maternal mortality rate for black women is improving

The maternal mortality rate for Black women has improved, returning to pre-pandemic levels, but stays an area of ​​concern, in line with latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2022, the general death rate returned to 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, significantly lower than in 2021, when it was as high as 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births. This resulted in a drop within the rate from 69.9 to 49.5 for black women.

reports that this indicator still raises serious concerns amongst experts. Jennie Joseph, midwife and founding father of Commonsense Childbirth Inc. he told the outlet that she still worries about what these numbers mean for black women. “We leveled as much as where we were, which is still terrible. We do not know until the following set of numbers are available,” Joseph said, before continuing: “These deaths are preventable irrespective of how we count them.”

Now, with actual post-pandemic numbers only a yr old, it’s hard for experts to pinpoint exactly what led to the decline in numbers, but some speculate it could be because of increased awareness of and use of midwives and doulas’ services, or just the indisputable fact that that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on childbirth overall. Others hypothesized that the true effect would only be felt in just a few years, when the impact of rural hospital closures and shortages of gynecologists and obstetricians could be truly reflected within the statistics.

Dr. Yolanda Lawson, an obstetrician and gynecologist and president of the National Medical Association, said huge disparities for black women led her to imagine that the dearth of adequate maternal health care was affecting the variety of black women. On May 9, Lawson will testify on maternal health disparities before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education and Pensions.

“The disparity persists and is not going away, as seen in the data for Black women compared to Caucasian and non-Caucasian women. Access is important in many ways. We know we have a maternal health care desert in this country. We have states that have not expanded Medicaid because of not only maternal and infant mortality but also disparities.” Lawson said. “We must continue to ensure that we support countries in implementing quality improvement projects and initiatives.”

Despite improving numbers, the United States continues to have the worst maternal outcomes amongst high-wage countries, some extent of emphasis by Dr. Angela Bianco, director of maternal-fetal medicine and professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences on the Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai. “Because our statistics are rather abysmal, there has been a call to arms across the country to address the maternal mortality crisis, which is definitely disproportionately affecting women of color,” Bianco said, before emphasizing that a powerful mental health support system could help improve results while pregnant. birth process.

“There’s also mental health. “Mental health is largely directly linked to maternal morbidity, maternal outcomes and mortality,” Bianco said. “So if you can optimize your physical and mental health, have a strong support system, have providers that you can build trusting relationships with, and then, if necessary, also use support services like a birth doula to really have more make sure you’re well protected and make sure you’re in a hospital that provides all the services you need – that’s really the best way to ensure perfect results.”