Black mothers face disproportionate health concerns before, during childbirth

President Joe Biden talked about ways to improve American health care during his State of the Union address, and one group that suffers disproportionately is Black mothers and their families.

There are more than 2 million people in the country who are being denied health care coverage right now, and Florida is one of 12 states that is not expanding its Medicaid program. Combine that with the large number of minority women of reproductive age who work in jobs that do not offer health care and you have a lot of moms who are at risk. Expanding Medicaid would protect women and babies throughout pregnancies.

“Based on research and data, we have a lot of women that report they don’t feel listened to, heard or respected by their health care provider when they experience pain or discomfort,” said pediatrician Dr. Julia Morita. “Often their needs are not met and this can be very tragic and [lead to] tragic outcomes from women of color.”

The playing field is uneven: According to the American Medical Association, college-educated Black women are more likely to experience complications during childbirth than white women who didn’t finish high school. Besides working jobs that don’t offer health care, women of color tend to face more underlying health conditions, limited access to reproductive health care and the closure of maternity units in underserved communities.

Morita says having a baby in the U.S. is more dangerous than in any other developed country.

“That women are living in areas where there may not be access to safe, decent and affordable housing, good nutrition, living in an unsafe neighborhood… all of those things can have an impact on a woman, a person, while they are pregnant and can impact health outcomes when they deliver their baby and before they’re pregnant,” Morita said.