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By Laura Madrariaga
Maternal mortality is defined, by the World Health Organization (WHO), as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes."
It is important to understand that Black, American Native, and Alaskan Native women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than white women. When taking a closer look as to why this occurs it becomes clear that some healthcare professionals do hold implicit biases. Which ultimately plays a role in the lack of attention which they provide for BIPOC women and their pregnancies. Often their concerns get brushed aside and remain unheard, whereas white women’s pregnancies receive the necessary care and attention needed to have a healthy pregnancy.
To speak on maternal mortality is to speak on the unequal access to quality healthcare that BIPOC women have. The failure to have high quality healthcare access, whilst being pregnant can be detrimental to the infant. When quality care is not rightfully provided, infants of BIPOC women in the United States become at higher risk for preterm delivery, birth defects, and chromosomal disorders.
Placing an end to maternal mortality begins when we acknowledge how healthcare, as an institution, fails to accommodate the pregnancies of BIPOC women. Ending racial discrimination in pregnant BIPOC women further commences, when as a society we realize the importance of quality healthcare for pregnant BIPOC women.
Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p0905-racial-ethnic-disparities-pregnan
cy-deaths.html