Introduction
Maternal health is a critical field in the wider medical system that is intended to meet the needs of women during childbirth, postnatal period, and pregnancy. The professionals in this field possess a wide range of competencies that empower them to provide high-quality and personalized support. When proper care and empowerment is available during pregnancy, more women will record improved fetal growth, thereby increasing chances of giving birth to a healthy baby. The absence of proper services during this stage is directly linked to poor fetal growth, malnutrition, and possibility of a still birth. Unfortunately, this promise of sustainable maternal health care is yet to become a reality for all women irrespective of their cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. The intersectioality framework reveals that historical, economic, social, educational, and emotional injustices founded on racial biases have worsened the quality and sustainability of maternal health services available to African American women.
Health Disparities Pregnant Black Women Encounter in the Healthcare System
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is one of the agencies that have examined the nature of health disparities in the provision of pediatric and maternal care. The 2018 report by this organization revealed that African American women had higher chances of dying during childbirth in comparison with white women (Chalhoub & Rimar, 2018). In the same report, it was revealed that the social determinants of educational attainment and economic empowerment did very little to address the nature of this health disparity (Chalhoub & Rimar, 2018). Most of the providers of support and mental empowering during pregnancy seemed to focus on the issue of race and sex, thereby affecting the overall outcomes of black women.
In the American healthcare system, a number of policies and laws have emerged with the aim of tackling disparities. A good example is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a progressive policy that has helped maximize access to health insurance and provision of personalized medical services to formerly marginalized populations. However, such efforts have not done a lot to overcome the challenges black women in need of maternal health services during pregnancy tend to experience. This predicament exists because they find it hard to access personalized, timely, and sustainable support to improve the overall health of their fetuses (Chalhoub & Rimar, 2018). This reality has led to negative overall health outcomes and psychological experiences of the affected women throughout their pregnancy periods. Consequently, the nature of these concerns explains why additional measures, support systems, and anti-discriminatory practices are essential to trigger a paradigm shift.
To appreciate the background of the health issues pregnant black women experience in this country, experts have applied a number of models and frameworks to expose some of the contributing factors. For instance, Parker (2021) acknowledges that the intersectionality theory is a superior approach that indicates that a number of social categories interact at the micro-level to influence people’s experiences. Specifically, individuals encounter a number of forces in their communities that dictate their overall psychological, mental, and medical outcomes. The aspect of race plays a crucial role whereby the dominant groups engage in actions and promote policies that resonate with their demands. Individuals belonging to minority populations will find it hard to access most of the available services and remained poorly integrated in the wider society (Chalhoub & Rimar, 2018). Similar challenges usually emerge when scholars apply the lens of gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic statuses.
Women in the American setting encounter a wide range of barriers that affect their overall economic and social achievements. The problem worsens when dealing with individuals from minority backgrounds, such as African Americans. This marginalized population has suffered a number of social shocks in the past that have affected their overall experiences and outcomes. For example, Chalhoub & Rimar (2018) observed that majority of women had missed out in educational opportunities, thereby being unable to get competitive job opportunities. The absence of adequate skills made it impossible for them to know when to seek appropriate medical services. This problem worsened due to the fact that they had little financial bargaining power. The absence of proper mechanisms, policies, and structural elements in African American neighborhoods affected the overall social, mental, medical, and economic outcomes of these marginalized groups. This analysis reveals that the intersectionality framework is a powerful basis for studying the overall health statuses of more black women in the American society.
Through the lens of intersectionality, some scholars have succeeded to present numerous ideas about the overall health outcomes of women in diverse societies. In their study, Bullock et al. (2020) observed that many homeless mothers were capable of providing numerous insights regaining the contributing factors to poor overall health outcomes. Specifically, the identified respondents indicated that racial biases, class struggles, and notions of gender compelled members of the society to push underprivileged women way from the available social resources. Some of these victims of homelessness had lost their jobs or evicted due to their poor economic positions. The fact that they were identified as black women increased their chances of oppression and discrimination (Bullock et al., 2020). Consequently, most of the homeless women who became pregnant encountered additional problems, such as the inability to get timely and personalized medical services.
Within the past two years, minority groups have experienced unprecedented challenges due to the ongoing coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This health problem revealed that a wide range of social gaps existed that impacted more African American negatively. Specifically, these individuals were living in crowded neighborhoods, lacked adequate opportunities for recording improved social mobility, and failed to receive timely medical services (Destine et al., 2020). During the pandemic, pregnant mothers who lost their jobs found it hard to seek timely medical services. Some reported cases of discrimination irrespective of their conditions. The available medical and maternal health services appeared to focus on members of dominant populations. Consequently, most of these black women were unable to give birth naturally or have healthy babies (Destine et al., 2020). The plight for such individuals worsened even after becoming mothers. This outcome showed conclusively that the systemic economic, social, and educational gaps that had existed in the country presented major risks for the health experiences of more black women.
The longstanding issue of implicit bias has continued to attract attention of many investigators and analysts. In the wider healthcare sector, professionals tend to engage in malpractices that sideline members of marginalized or underrepresented populations. In their article, Green et al. (2021) acknowledge that the historical roots in the American society have continued to determine the overall maternal health of marginalized communities. For instance, the problem of racism intersects with absence of proper health insurance and support mechanisms to worsen the situations and outcomes of pregnant mothers. Those belonging to the African American community find it hard to access emergency services during pregnancy. Those who are in informal employments are usually unable to afford basic commodities, clothes, and medicines intended to support fetal development. The existing medical professionals tend to promote a number of stereotypes that contribute to overall negative health outcomes for more black women in this country (Green et al., 2021). Without proper educational backgrounds, adequate resources, and support mechanisms, such marginalized groups have continued to record increasing cases of negative experiences.
In another study, Parker (2021) focuses on the power of culture and the unique attributes of society and how they dictate the overall health of many individuals. Specifically, the analyst observes that the American society has a number of intersecting attributes that dictate the positions, achievements, and outcomes of people depending on their ethnic backgrounds (Parker, 2021). The argument seems to reveal that the historical injustices and societal norms existing in this community have reshaped the experiences individuals belonging to different ethnicities go through. For example, the country is notorious for promoting unique narratives that appear to support the notion of white supremacy. Consequently, the malpractice tends to ignore some of the strengths and possible abilities of African Americans (Green et al., 2021). Women belonging to this marginalized population have, therefore, been on the receiving end since they find it hard to pursue their health goals. A unique model appears to exist that in the country that promotes a sense of cultural oppression. The affected individuals are unable to pursue their aims, thereby recording negative maternal health outcomes.
The relevant authorities and policymakers have ignored the nature of this problem. A multidimensional view is lacking that could expose the intersectionality of different forces that have the potential to increase the level of oppression for African Americans. Such forces have found their way in the wider maternal health sector, thereby creating a scenario whereby pregnant black women find it hard to receive personalized and timely medical services (Parker, 2021). Those who get the opportunity to get timely medical services and support during pregnancy realize with great shock that the major social forces influence the overall nature and effectiveness of the available services (Chalhoub & Rimar, 2018). Without proper incentives and approaches to tackles these issues head on, the American community has set a precedent of poor services delivery to African Americans, including women in need of maternal services during pregnancy.
The current predicaments more African American women experience during pregnancy when seeking maternal health could be studied from an intersectional approach. It is agreeable that such individuals are 2-3 times more likely to record pregnancy related deaths in comparison with those from the white population (Chalhoub & Rimar, 2018). This reality has a historical background whereby the social, economic, ethnic, and racial attributes contribute to poor health outcomes. The members of the society tend to experience poor outcomes and possible complications. This disproportional reality is linked to increased child mortality among African Americans. The recorded health and societal forces have gone further to dictate these biases in maternal health for black pregnant women.
The issues of sexism, racism, and social barriers have triggered this form of inequality for black women within the wider healthcare system. With most of them getting poor remunerations from their work engagements and lacking proper support, they eventually lack the necessary services (Green et al., 2021). These realities explain why there is a need for the government and other key agencies in the wider healthcare sector to implement progressive solutions (Parker, 2021). They can do so by widening the benefits of the ACA and considering additional incentives to improve the social outcomes of most of these people.
The relevant policymakers could also liaise with other professionals to identify other issues that are directly linked to women health, such as diabetes, cardiovascular illness, and hypertension. This approach is essential since there is a direct relation between such conditions and the overall infant and maternal health indicators (Chalhoub & Rimar, 2018). The involvement of all key actors will help address these issues and set the right stage for improving overall maternal health experiences. These strategies will be in line with the power of a multifaceted approach that is capable of supporting black women across their lifespan.
Conclusion
Maternal health remains an integral segment of the wider national medical sector. It is designed to provide quality services to childbearing women and ensure that they raise up health babies. In this country, black women in need of such services have continued to record negative outcomes due to the longstanding issues linked to racial discrimination. These forces have led to implicit bias in the dispersal and delivery of such services. A multifaceted approach is recommendable to bring together policymakers and present evidence-based strategies that can transform the maternal health outcomes of all women.
References
Bullock, H. E., Reppond, H. A., Truong, S. V., & Singh, M. R. (2020). An intersectional analysis of the feminization of homelessness and mothers’ housing precarity. Journal of Social Issues, 76(4), 835–858. Web.
Chalhoub, T., & Rimar, K. (2018). The health care system and racial disparities in maternal mortality. CAP.
Destine, S., Brooks, J., & Rogers, C. (2020). Black maternal health crisis, COVID-19, and the crisis of care. Feminist Studies, 46(3), 603-614. Web.
Green, T. L., Zapata, J. Y., Brown, H. W., & Hagiwara, N. (2021). Rethinking bias to achieve maternal health equity: Changing organizations, not just individuals. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 137(5), 935–940. Web.
Parker, A. (2021). Reframing the narrative: Black maternal mental health and culturally meaningful support for wellness. Infant Mental Health Journal, 42(4), 502-516. Web.