NYC Takes Aim at Racism, Maternal MortalityTop Stories

August 01, 2018 11:05
NYC Takes Aim at Racism, Maternal Mortality

(Image source from: General Commission on Religion and Race)

In New York City, black mothers are 12 times more likely to die from childbirth-related causes than white mothers. Across the nation, their risk is still sky-high - about four times that of white women (one of the reasons the United States has such a high maternal mortality rate compared to other developed nations) - but New York's even steeper disparity stood out in an investigative series from NPR and ProPublica last year.

In response, city officials proclaimed a $12.8 million initiative last week to reduce maternal deaths and complications among women of color, particularly black women.

"We are losing far too many mothers - especially women of color - to pregnancy-related complications," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a release. "That is unacceptable."

Generally, the city's goal is a complete removal of the black-white racial inequality in deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth. Officials have also stated that they plan to cut the number of complications in half within five years.

"We recognize these are ambitious goals, but they are not unrealistic," Dr. Herminia Palacio, New York City's Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, told ProPublica recently. "It's an explicit recognition of the urgency of this issue and puts the goal posts in front of us."

"If you are a poor black woman, you don't have access to quality OBGYN care, and if you are a wealthy black women, like Serena Williams, you get providers who don't listen to you when you say you can't breathe," Patricia Loftman, a member of the American College of Nurse-Midwives Board of Directors, told ProPublica recently. "The components of this initiative are very aggressive and laudable to the extent that they are forcing hospital departments to talk about implicit bias."

As NPR and ProPublica reported, New York's racial disparity in maternal outcomes is among the largest in the U.S. - and it is growing.

By Sowmya Sangam

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