为什么黑人女性不太可能在怀孕期间存活下来,对此采取了什么措施

By Maria Elena Fernandez, 美国心脏协会 线上电子游戏飞禽走兽

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/DigitalVision, Getty Images
(Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/DigitalVision, Getty Images)

Being Black and pregnant in the U.S. 这已经是一个危险的组合,卫生专家现在担心大流行会让情况变得更糟.

在大流行之前,黑人妇女比西班牙裔妇女多三倍,比西班牙裔妇女多两倍.根据最新的研究,黑人女性死于与怀孕有关的原因的可能性是白人女性的5倍 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2018年数据. Those 统计数据 suggest that for every 100,000例活产, 37名黑人妇女在怀孕期间或怀孕6周内死亡,而西班牙裔妇女为12名,白人妇女为15名.

尽管有关大流行对孕产妇死亡率影响的数据在一段线上电子游戏飞禽走兽内无法获得, 医学专家和健康倡导者正在收集轶事,以突显黑人女性面临的日益加剧的危机.

“我们没有投资于人们需要的东西,以保护他们在没有大流行时免受伤害, so we're confident that when we do get the data, 它将表明,结果实际上恶化了,因为我们没有一个社会保障网络,”医生说。. 乔娅·阿黛尔·克雷佩里, an OB-GYN and founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative.

“在更多地倾听病人的意见方面,我们没有做出任何实质性的改变, making sure their needs are addressed, 获得社区支持——我们知道这些实际上可以挽救生命,她说.

她的组织致力于通过研究减少黑人婴儿和母亲的死亡, advocacy and racial equity and birth equity training.

将近一年, COVID-19 has overwhelmed local hospitals and stressed resources, 血库枯竭, and transferred some in-person medical visits to video calls. 在大流行早期, 由于大流行的限制,一些妇女的同伴不允许进入产房,她们得不到必要的支持.

But even before the COVID-19 crisis began, Black mothers 报道 当她们在分娩过程中表达担忧时,被医疗专业人员驳回. Tennis superstar Serena Williams told 时尚 2018年,当她意识到自己肺部有血块时,她可能会在剖腹产后死亡,但她很难说服医院工作人员认真对待她的担忧.

The reasons behind these racial disparities are multifaceted. Lack of access to health care and poor quality of care are among the factors. 但即使是受过大学教育的黑人女性死于怀孕相关疾病的比例也高于未完成高中学业的白人女性, 美国疾病控制与预防中心的数据 显示.

"For years, there has been implicit racial bias in American medicine,”医生说。. 玛丽伐木工人, 她是纽约市哥伦比亚大学欧文医学中心综合妇女健康主任. “美国把人们隔离在他们无法获得健康食品等资源的社区, 绿色空间, 工作机会, 良好的住房和医疗保健. This is compounded with the stress caused by 结构性种族主义 which also impacts Black women's health."

For mothers of all backgrounds overall, cardiovascular-related conditions are the most common cause of death, 根据 统计数据 from the 美国心脏协会. 联邦数据 显示这些原因包括心肌病、中风和其他心血管疾病. Other pregnancy-related deaths result from hemorrhage, infection and high blood pressure disorders such as preeclampsia.

"We're not biologically different; there's no Black gene or Black heart or Black kidneys,克里尔-佩里说, who serves on the advisory board of Black Mamas Matter Alliance, 这是一个由二十多个由黑人妇女领导的孕产妇健康倡议和组织组成的全国性网络. “我们花了几代人的线上电子游戏飞禽走兽把他们的结果归咎于黑人,却没有真正解决种族主义的根本原因, classism and gender oppression. 所以,当人们问我黑人产妇死亡的原因是什么时,答案不是种族. 这是种族歧视."

The federal government is paying attention to the issue. 去年12月,美国政府宣布.S. Department of Health and Human Services 概述了计划 to fund health care providers serving the most high-risk women, develop and publicly report maternal health quality measures, and invest in maternal health research. In addition, the CDC last summer launched the 听听她的竞选 to educate people about the warning signs of pregnancy complications.

尤其是黑人女性, 去年6月,黑人心脏病专家协会召集了一个临床医生工作组, faith-based community leaders, 研究机构和媒体查明护理方面的差距并提出解决办法. 该组织发表了一份 意见书 Wednesday in the AHA journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. It's the same week three members of Congress 介绍了立法 名为《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》,旨在减少种族和种族差异.

“我们知道,如果你有慢性压力,这种压力每天都在不断地施加给你, you're going to have poor health outcomes,”医生说。. Rachel Bond, the 意见书's lead author.

By working with faith-based organizations and engaging businesses, 比如美容院, the task force hopes to reach women where they convene and talk openly, 说债券, a cardiologist at Dignity Health Medical Group Arizona. 其目标是减轻黑人社区对医疗服务提供者的一些不信任,并教育妇女了解妊娠并发症的风险因素,以及如何更有效地为自己辩护.

“我们想要强调 the 'strong Black woman' phenomenon 因为它存在, 这是真实的, and it's something that we as clinicians have to empathize with,她说. "We have to do a better job of screening for it, particularly during a pandemic when stress is extremely heightened. 在帮助减少我们所看到的这些差距方面,它可能会改变游戏规则."

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