New Study Examines Racial Disparity in Maternal Mortality

uabU.S. government statistics show that nationwide African American mothers are more than four times as likely as White mothers to die during childbirth. A new study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham finds that race has nothing to do with the disparity. Their data showed that the disparity also had nothing to do with insurance status, income, body mass index, or marital status.

The researchers stated that factors such as gestational age, fetal survival rate, duration of hospital stay, cesarean delivery rate, and lack of prenatal care contributed to the higher incidence of maternal mortality among Black mothers. The authors also found that women who lived farther away from a hospital were at greater risk for mortality.

The study, “Why Do Pregnant Women Die? A Review of Maternal Deaths from 1990 to 2010 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham,” was published in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia. It may be accessed here.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Huston-Tilloston University to Establish Two Satellite Campus in California

Huston-Tilloston University, a historically Black educational institution in Austin, Texas, has announced plans to launch two new satellite campuses in California. The university has already received approval to begin offering online courses to California students in January.

Two Black Scholars Selected for Endowed Professorships at Ivy League Universities

The two Black scholars appointed to endowed faculty positions at Ivy League schools are Vaughn Booker at the University of Pennsylvania and Dorceta Taylor at Yale University.

Sanofi Grants $18 Million to Three Historically Black Medical Schools to Increase Diversity in Clinical Studies

Thanks to an $18 million investment from Sanofi, Meharry Medical College, Howard University, and Morehouse School of Medicine plan to expand their clinical research staff, pharmacy infrastructure, and training programs.

Kemeshia Swanson Receives 2024 Eudora Welty Book Prize

Dr. Swanson, an assistant professor at Mississippi State University, has been recognized for her new book, Maverick Feminist: To Be Female and Black in a Country Founded Upon Violence and Respectability.

Featured Jobs