Healthy labor and delivery outcomes focus not only on the baby but on birthing people, and those outcomes start at the hospital during and immediately after childbirth.
Most, , of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, "highlighting the need for quality improvement initiatives in states, hospitals, and communities that ensure all people who are pregnant or postpartum get the right care at the right time," said Wanda Barfield, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC's Division of Reproductive Health at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, in the report.Ìý
partnered with Stacker to examine to see which states have the most significant disparities in length of pregnancy-related hospital stays for Black people.
Pregnant Black people are to die from a pregnancy-related complication, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's a result of underlying inequities, medical experts say.Ìý
"Obviously death is the worst possible outcome, but there are a lot of things that happen along that continuum that can really impact women's lives and have severe consequences in their health for the long term," said Dr. S. Michelle Ogunwole, assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who researches racial disparities in health outcomes among Black Americans who are pregnant or have given birth.Ìý
Pregnant Black people experience severe maternal morbidity, or unexpected negative outcomes during labor and delivery resulting in serious short- or long-term health issues, at higher rates than pregnant white, Hispanic, and Asian people.
For instance, Black people are more likely to give birth by cesarean section, which is major abdominal surgery. Between 2019 and 2021, 36.2% of pregnant Black people gave birth by C-section, compared to 30% of pregnant white people and 29% of pregnant people of American Indian and Alaska Native descent, according to compiled by the March of Dimes.
After an uncomplicated C-section, patients routinely stay in the hospital three to four days, compared to people who deliver vaginally and routinely stay one to two days in the hospital, said Dr. Dawnette Lewis, director of Northwell's Center for Maternal Health.
In addition, Lewis said that the patient may have a pre-existing medical condition requiring a more extended stay at the hospital. She also suggested longer stays may occur because some new parents may want to learn how to care for their babies or work with a lactation consultant.
Dr. Amanda P. Williams, who is the clinical innovation advisor for the , said doctors may keep people in the hospital longer after giving birth if they aren't able to return to a medical facility for follow-up care due to childcare, transportation, or a lack of available appointments.Ìý
"When you have a patient with preeclampsia or a similar complication, you want them to be seen again within the first week of delivery," Williams explained.Ìý