Maternal Mortality — A US perspective

Written by Nathalie Diadhiou in April 2021, a volunteer writer for AHI

Due to racism and other socio-economic factors on a global scale, the black woman has the highest mortality rate unlike other ethnicities based on statistics gathered by the CDC [1].

During slavery, it was discovered that white scientists used black women as guinea pigs to test procedures and tools to implement the latest innovative advancements without cautiously aiding and protecting black women who were at the mercy of their slave owners. Without the use of anaesthesia or other pain relievers, women were mistreated and mishandled which led to high mortality rates in the name of “research” or “science” [2].

Fast forward to the modern-day, hospitals still have the highest mortality rates among black women in the nation. Many black women die during or immediately after childbirth one of the reasons being, medical professionals assume that black women can handle more pain than other races. Although black women request just as much medical attention as their other race counterparts. Preeclampsia and pulmonary embolisms are listed as two of the more prominent reasons why women of colour of having complications during pregnancy [3]. Although the United States has state of the art technology to aid women during labour and birth, the lack of support and care from the medical staff makes the birthing experience of black women very traumatizing and often fatal.