Keaton Reese
Research Mentor(s): Cecilia Martinez Torteya
Mentor Department: Psychiatry
Authors: Denise Vazquez, Keaton Reese, Cecilia Martinez-Torteya
Session: Session 4 (1:00pm – 1:50pm)
Presentation Type: Poster 91
Abstract
The disparities in maternal mortality are a growing health crisis in the United States, with Black women being 2.6 times more likely to experience pregnancy-related death compared to non-Hispanic White women, as reported by the CDC. These disparities persist across income and educational levels, which highlights the systematic nature of inequities in healthcare access and quality of care. The issue is historically rooted in racism and reflected in modern day implicit biases and medical discrimination. Previous research reveals that this is a public health crisis plaguing the entire country. Howell et al. (2018) found that “Black women are 3 to 4 times more likely to die a pregnancy-related death as compared with white women” (pg. 1). Furthermore, Altman et al. (2020) attributed this issue to “upstream social determinants and socially structured systems” (pg. 1). The literature underscores we must come up with solutions that tackle the systemic issues in our healthcare system. Our project aims to contribute to reducing inequities by interviewing new mothers and analyzing their experiences with perinatal healthcare. By coding and analyzing the interviews, and comparing the responses of Black and White women, we aim to find key themes and provide recommendations to perinatal health care systems and providers. The ultimate goal is to develop an educational intervention for perinatal healthcare providers that promotes culturally competent care, bias training, and equitable treatment. Overall, this research will enhance the perinatal healthcare for women of color and contribute to a more equitable system for future generations.
