Washington — Washington — Washington is home to the highest number of American women who die shortly after or during childbirth than any other country, especially among women of color. The Harvard task force that studies the issue stated Sunday that finding the root cause of this racial disparity is “essentially one the greatest challenges of public health.”
“We view that as the top of the iceberg in poor health among women and in Black women,” Dr. Henning Ticemeier, the Harvard Maternal Health Task Force director, stated in an interview with “Face the Nation.” “And there are many reasons, there seem to be,” Dr. Henning Tiemeier said in an interview on Face the Nation. She stated that there were several factors to this phenomenon, including poverty and discrimination as well as poor care for this group.
Tiemeier stated that approximately 700 American women die in childbirth or during labor every year. He also noted that the majority of these deaths can be prevented.
A 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found that the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women in the U.S. was 55.3 per 100,000 live births. This is roughly 2.9 times higher than the rate for non-Hispanic White women. Tiemeier stated that the high level of disparity can be attributed, among others, to poor health, poverty, poor post-partum care, and discrimination.
In the wake of Roe v. Wade’s Supreme Court decision, maternal mortality has become more important. Many states have implemented long-awaited bans on the procedure and cut off access for millions. Black women account for almost 40% of all abortions in the U.S. Tiemeier stated that he believes that restricting abortion access will have an unknown impact.
Tiemeier stated, “We know that abortion happens and people of poor and minorities more often.” We know they are unable to access abortion outside of the state. Therefore, we believe it will have an impact on their mental and physical health. How many people will die? It is hard to know. It’s very difficult.”
While Medicaid covers approximately 40% of all births, many states have coverage that ends two months after the birth. The federal government encourages more states to accept Medicaid funding and expand maternal health care. Tiemeier cited Mississippi and Texas as examples of states where expanding coverage could help new mothers.
He stated that they have not accepted the Affordable Care Act’s offer to extend health care to women within the first year. However, he added that it should be expanded to include more women within the first year.
Tiemeier stressed the importance to expand paid leave for mothers-to-be, saying that the issue is often “underrecognized.”
Tiemeier stated that giving parents paid leave and leave was important as having children is stressful on the system. Imagine you have three children and then have a fourth. You will need to pay for the rest of your expenses. However, this will mean that you won’t have enough money to breastfeed.
