Fear of discrimination and dying during pregnancy and childbirth may lead pregnant Black women to prefer seeing a Black obstetrician, a small study suggests.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted a series of interviews and focus groups with 32 Black women ages 27 to 34 about their past experiences with obstetric care, along with their perspectives about having a Black obstetrician. The study’s findings were presented Wednesday at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland.
Women who spoke to the researchers brought up their fear that their pregnancies may kill them.
“I was so scared because I’m like, I might die with this pregnancy. Like that was the first thought in my head. I could very well die just from simply getting pregnant and because I decided to have a child,” one woman said in a focus group during the study.
Black women’s fear of dying during pregnancy and childbirth is a reflection of real-life risks. The maternal mortality rate of Black women in 2021 was 2.6 times higher than the rate of white women, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A 2022 report by the Pew Research Center also found that 71% of Black women ages 18 to 49 reported having at least one negative experience with health care providers in the past.
The discussions also revealed stark instances of racial stereotyping.
One woman said in an interview with the researchers that she was told “abortion is an option, especially if you don’t know the dad.” She told the provider she did, in fact, know who her child’s father is. “I’m sorry, am I meant to be a single mother?” she told the interviewers.
Another woman said that a nurse kept asking if she needed a social worker or government assistance. “What in my profile is making you ask these questions, are these normal questions? Or are you asking me this because I’m Black?” the woman recalled saying.
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