How to Solve the Black Maternal Health Crisis

By: Beverly Gould

Concern for poor outcomes for maternal health among Black women in America due to systemic racism has become a major issue.  This article addresses what efforts are being made to address it.

Policy Solutions

Since nearly half of maternal deaths take place in the first year postpartum, dozens of states have accepted the opportunity of federal policy expansion that provides Medicaid coverage for mothers for a full year. The US is one of only a handful of countries with no national policy guaranteeing paid leave to new parents. There is an effort to change this especially regarding Black women who have less access to paid leave than white women. In addition, the implementation of telehealth services during pregnancy has been linked to a decrease in racial disparities in postpartum visit attendance. The Black Maternal Health Caucus proposes investing in reducing the gaps in the social determinants of health, growing and diversifying the perinatal workforce, and improving data collection for maternal health.

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Healthcare Systems and Educational Reform

In order to address systemic racism in the health care system, efforts are being made to shift the way medicine is practiced and taught. Advocates are attempting to diversify the healthcare workforce and provide culturally sensitive and respectful care to Black women, whose expressions of pain, illness and discomfort have been widely devalued and ignored. Most deaths are preventable and the risks can occur not just during delivery but up to a year after giving birth. Access to midwives and doulas has been found to have better outcomes and play a critical role in decreasing racial disparities in maternal health. Medical students themselves have recognized the implicit bias and are calling for more responsive curricula.

Bolstering Community Organizations

Community advocates play an intermediary role between individuals and policymakers working at the grassroots level, collaborating and providing much needed resources. Access to doulas, home visits, social service referrals, and education are made available to a wider array of birthing persons through community organizations.  
Community efforts to create policy can be seen in the 2022 White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, linked in the article.  Of note is the Momnibus Act, introduced in the Senate in May of 2023.  This bill is a package of 13 separate bills designed to address the factors contributing to the crisis through historic and comprehensive investments.