Systemic racism: two effects on moms and babies

Lorie Michaels, CD(DONA), PMH-C, CLC, EBB Inst.
Aug 17
1 min read

Immigrating to the US doesn't bring a Black mother's risk down to a white mother's level. It starts higher the moment she's Black in the US, not because of anything about her, and it keeps climbing the longer she's here. By the time you're looking at a Black woman born in the US, her maternal mortality rate is nearly triple a white woman's, in the same country, under the same healthcare system.

Here's the research: Singh, International Journal of MCH and AIDS, 2021

Illustrated low birthweight comparison. White woman born in the US, 4.3 percent low birthweight rate. Black woman who immigrated to the US, 7.1 percent, 1.6 times higher. Black woman born in the US, 13.2 percent, 3.1 times higher.

Same pattern, different outcome. A Black woman born in the US is three times as likely as a white woman to have a low birthweight baby, and about twice as likely as a Black woman who immigrated here. The gap holds even among women matched for age, education, and prenatal care.

Here's the research: David & Collins, New England Journal of Medicine, 1997