Racism May Play Role in Maternal Health of African American Women
According to Women's eNews, African American women "are three-to-six more likely to die during pregnancy and the six weeks after delivery than U.S. white and Latina women." This statistic applies to women on all levels of education and income. There are some studies that maintain black women who are highly educated and have a middle income are actually at higher risk.
Although African American women comprise 12 percent of the female population in this country, they represent almost half of the maternal mortalities.
Women's eNews states that black women are the least likely (I imagine this is in comparison to other groups), to breastfeed a child exclusively at six months. Among the other benefits, nursing reportedly reduces a woman's risk of getting breast and ovarian cancers - diseases that African American are more vulnerable to contracting.
It is now thought that these dismal statistics are because of living with the stress of racism-- "from workplace discrimination to maltreatment in maternity wards." This is now the leading hypothesis on the present state of maternal health among African American women.
We value and respect the experiences of all of our HERWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
Add a CommentComments
There are no comments yet. Be the first one and get the conversation started!