Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T05:06:51.920Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Structural Racism and Maternal Health Among Black Women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Abstract

Historical foundations rooted in reproductive oppression have implications for how racism has been integrated into the structures of society, including public policies, institutional practices, and cultural representations that reinforce racial inequality in maternal health. This article examines these connections and sheds light on how they perpetuate both racial disparities in maternal health and high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity among Black women.

Type
Symposium Articles
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

J. Taylor, C. Novoa, et al., “Eliminating Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Mortality,” Center for American Progress, May 2, 2019, available at <https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2019/05/02/469186/eliminatingracial-disparities-maternal-infant-mortality/> (last visited September 19, 2019).+(last+visited+September+19,+2019).>Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – National Center for Health Statistics, “Maternal Mortality,” November 20, 2019, available at <https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/maternal-mortality/index.htm> (last visited February 13, 2020).+(last+visited+February+13,+2020).>Google Scholar
Petersen, E.E., Davis, N.L., D. Goodman, et al.,“Vital Signs: Pregnancy-Related Deaths, United States, 2011– 2015, and Strategies for Prevention, 13 States, 2013–2017,” MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 28, no. 18 (2019):423429.Google Scholar
C. Sakala, E.R. Declercq, et al., Listening to Mothers in California: A Population-Based Survey of Women's Childbearing Experiences (National Partnership for Women and Families, 2019).Google Scholar
The Aspen Institute, “11 Terms You Should Know to Better Understand Structural Racism,” July 11, 2016, available at <https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/structural-racism-definition/> (last visited February 6, 2020).+(last+visited+February+6,+2020).>Google Scholar
Schwartz, M.J.. Birthing A Slave: Motherhood and Medicine in the Antebellum South (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006): at 1.Google Scholar
White, D.G., Ar’n't I a Woman? Female Slaves In The Plantation South (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999): at 62.Google Scholar
Roberts, D., Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty (New York: Pantheon Books, 1997): at 61.Google Scholar
Johnson, C., Smith, P., and the WGBH Research Team, Africans in America: America's Journey through Slavery (New York: Harcourt, Inc., 1998): at 4142.Google Scholar
See Roberts, supra note 8, at 24.Google Scholar
See White, supra note 7, at 70.Google Scholar
Jefferson, T.and Betts, E.M., Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book (Monticello: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1999): at 46.Google Scholar
See Roberts, supra note 8, at 26.Google Scholar
Andrews, W.L. and Gates, H.L., Slave Narratives (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 2000): at 1001.Google Scholar
See Roberts, supra note 8, at 26.Google Scholar
Hooks, B., Killing Rage: Ending Racism (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995): at 35.Google Scholar
Fogel, R.and Engerman, S., Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1989): at 78.Google Scholar
See Johnson and Smith, supra note 9, at 135.Google Scholar
See Hooks, supra note 16, at 18.Google Scholar
Jacobs, H., Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (New York: Penguin Books, 2000): at 3.Google Scholar
See Roberts, supra note 8, at 36.Google Scholar
Collins, P.H., Black Feminist Though: Knowledge Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (New York: Routledge, 2009): at 58.Google Scholar
Id. at 58.Google Scholar
Washington, H.A., Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present (New York: Doubleday, 2006): at 1.Google Scholar
See Schwartz, supra note 6, at 105.Google Scholar
Id. at 229.Google Scholar
Id. at 229.Google Scholar
Id. at 229.Google Scholar
Id. at 229.Google Scholar
Id. at 229.Google Scholar
See Washington, supra note 24, at 2.Google Scholar
See Schwartz, supra note 6, at 238-239.Google Scholar
See Washington, supra note 24, at 2.Google Scholar
Petchesky, R.P., Abortion and Woman's Choice: The State, Sexuality, & Reproductive Freedom (Boston: Northeastern University Press. 1990): at 87.Google Scholar
See Washington, supra note 24, at 191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Id. at 192.Google Scholar
Kluchin, R.M., Fit to Be Tied: Sterilization and Reproductive Rights in America, 1950-1980 (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2009): at 15.Google Scholar
Id. at 15.Google Scholar
Id. at 15.Google Scholar
Id. at 15.Google Scholar
Id. at 15.Google Scholar
See Roberts, supra note 8, at 91.Google Scholar
Id. at 95.Google Scholar
Marable, M., How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America: Problems in Race, Political Economy, and Society (Cambridge: South End Press, 2000): at 84.Google Scholar
Silliman, J., et al., Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice (Cambridge: South End Press, 2004): at 4.Google Scholar
Personal communication from Loretta Ross to author, October 20, 2005.Google Scholar
See Silliman, supra note 47, at 5.Google Scholar
See Marable, supra note 46, at 197.Google Scholar
See Silliman, supra note 47, at 55.Google Scholar
Id. at 55.Google Scholar
Smedley, B., et al., Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003): at 123.Google Scholar
World Health Organization, “Maternal Health,” WHO 2020, available at <http://www9.who.int/maternal-health/en/> (last visited May 5, 2020).+(last+visited+May+5,+2020).>Google Scholar
See Petersen et al., supra note 3.Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Severe Maternal Morbidity in the United States,” January 31, 2020, available at <https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/severematernalmorbidity.html> (last visited February 1, 2020).+(last+visited+February+1,+2020).>Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Social Determinants of Health: Know What Affects Health,” January 29, 2018, available at <https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/index.htm> (last visited February 13, 2020).+(last+visited+February+13,+2020).>Google Scholar
Taylor, J., “Racism, Inequality, and Health Care for African Americans,” The Century Foundation, December 19, 2019, available at <https://tcf.org/content/report/racism-inequality-health-care-african-americans/> (last visited February 6, 2020).+(last+visited+February+6,+2020).>Google Scholar
See Sakala et al. supra note 4.Google Scholar
See Taylor et al., supra note 1.Google Scholar
Carroll, A.E., “Doctors and Racial Bias: Still a Long Way to Go,” New York Times, February 25, 2019.Google Scholar
Bridges, K., Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011): at 16-17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helm, A.. “Kira Johnson Spoke 5 Languages, Raced Cars, Was Daughter in Law of Judge Glenda Hackett. She Still Died in Childbirth,” The Root, October 19, 2018, available at <https://www.theroot.com/kira-johnson-spoke-5-languages-racedcars-was-daughte-1829862323> (last visited February 7, 2020).+(last+visited+February+7,+2020).>Google Scholar
See Smedley et al., supra note 56 at 126.Google Scholar
Kaiser Family Foundation, “Medicaid's Role for Women,” March 28, 2019, available at <https://www.kff.org/womenshealth-policy/fact-sheet/medicaids-role-for-women/> (last visited February 13, 2020). (last visited February 13, 2020).' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kaiser+Family+Foundation,+“Medicaid's+Role+for+Women,”+March+28,+2019,+available+at++(last+visited+February+13,+2020).>Google Scholar
Healthinsurance.org, “Federal Poverty Level: What is the Federal Poverty Level?” available at <https://www.healthinsurance.org/glossary/federal-poverty-level/> (last visited January 25, 2020).+(last+visited+January+25,+2020).>Google Scholar
Garfield, R., Orgera, K., and Damico, A., “The Coverage Gap: Uninsured Poor Adults in States that Did Not Expand Medicaid,” Kaiser Family Foundation, January 14, 2020, available at <https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/the-coverage-gapuninsured-poor-adults-in-states-that-do-not-expand-medicaid/> (last visited January 25, 2020).+(last+visited+January+25,+2020).>Google Scholar
Kaiser Family Foundation, “Where Are States Today? Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility Levels for Children, Pregnant Women, and Adults,” March 31, 2019, available at <https://www.kff.org/medicaid/fact-sheet/where-are-states-todaymedicaid-and-chip/> (last visited January 25, 2020).+(last+visited+January+25,+2020).>Google Scholar
See Taylor, supra note 61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See Garfield et al., supra note 75.Google Scholar
Searing, A. and Cohen Ross, D., Medicaid Expansion Fills Gaps in Maternal Health Coverage Leading to Healthier Moms and Babies (Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, 2019).Google Scholar
See Taylor, supra note 60.Google Scholar
See Garfield et al., supra note 75.Google Scholar
Kaiser Family Foundation, “State Funding of Abortions Under Medicaid,” January 21, 2020, available at <https://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/abortion-under-medicaid/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D> (last visited May 30, 2020).+(last+visited+May+30,+2020).>Google Scholar
Hasstedt, K., “A Domestic Gag Rule and More: The Trump Administration's Proposed Changes to Title X,” Health Affairs Blog, June 18, 2018, available at <https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20180614.838675/full/> (last visited February 11, 2020). (last visited February 11, 2020).' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Hasstedt,+K.,+“A+Domestic+Gag+Rule+and+More:+The+Trump+Administration's+Proposed+Changes+to+Title+X,”+Health+Affairs+Blog,+June+18,+2018,+available+at++(last+visited+February+11,+2020).>Google Scholar
See Searing and Ross, supra note 73.Google Scholar
See Taylor et al., supra note 1.Google Scholar
Shen, M.J., Petersen, E.B., Costas-Muniz, R. et al., “The Effect of Racial Concordance on Patient-Provider Communication: A Systematic Review of the Literature,The Effect of Racial Concordance on Patient-Provider Communication: A Systematic Review of the Literature, 5, no. 1 (2018): 117140; S. Somnath, M. Komaromy, T.D. Koepsell et al., “Patient-Physician Racial Concordance and the Perceived Quality of Health Care,” Patient-Physician Racial Concordance and the Perceived Quality of Health Care, 159, no. 9 (1999): 997-1004.Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Pregnancy-Related Deaths,” May 2019, available at <https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/maternal-deaths/index.html> (last visited February 11, 2020).+(last+visited+February+11,+2020).>Google Scholar
Daw, J.R., Backes Kozhimannil, K., and Admon, L.K., “High Rates of Perinatal Insurance Churn Persist After the ACA,” Health Affairs Blog, September 16, 2019, available at <https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20190913.387157/full/> (last visited February 13, 2020).+(last+visited+February+13,+2020).>Google Scholar
Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Policy Working Group, Advancing Holistic Maternal Care for Black Women through Policy, December 2018, available at <https://blackmamasmatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/BMMA-PolicyAgenda-Digital.pdf> (last visited May 7, 2020).+(last+visited+May+7,+2020).>Google Scholar