Racial disparities in health organizations are based on the conditions of racial inequalities within the social-economic institutions. The general discrimination is usually reinforced by organizational policies and disregarding bias based on negative stereotypes. The disparities have increased the rate of maternal deaths, especially to African American women. In the US, many infant deaths have been tied to pregnancy complications. Besides, women of color have a higher likelihood of dying while giving birth than white women. These challenges can be resolved by taking quality improvement initiatives and reducing bias during the provision of health services.
Racial discrimination and bias in the health system have increased maternal mortality. According to research on maternal mortality, about two-thirds of pregnancy mortalities occur in the first month of childbirth and usually result from birth complications and pathological abnormalities (Taylor et al., 2019). Additionally, Chalhoub & Rimar (2019) notes that women of color are more likely to die when giving birth compared to white women. The higher mortality rate is due to poor quality services provided to them. They are denied quality care and care providers sometimes offer delayed care, which deteriorates the health. These stressors negatively impact women's cognitive and physical well-being. Long-term mental suffering makes them vulnerable to a wide range of health severities that threaten their lives and that of their infants. For example, it leads to pregnancy-related hypertension, mental health conditions, and embolisms.
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Reducing the racial disparities that lead to pregnancy deaths will require various health systems to address the factors leading to the disparities. Health organizations should establish standardized rules concerning quality improvement initiatives, especially for the health care that takes care of the disproportionally affected groups. Besides, health organizations should address cultural competency and train the clinicians on how to focus on the cultural practices, beliefs, and styles of communicating with the racial minority groups (Wasserman et al., 2019). Additionally, they should conduct bias tests and train all health care workers that interact with pregnant people of color. They should give them interventions on how to handle stress related to the pregnancy. Enhancing comprehensive, high-quality, and affordable care will help in eliminating racial disparities in maternal deaths.
Conclusively, racial discrimination has promoted disparities in access to care. Specifically, racial discrimination has increased maternal mortality among women of color. Some of them or their infants succumb to maternal-related issues, such as infections. The high mortality is due to poor quality services offered to them and neglect from physicians. These issues can be addressed by providing quality services to patients regardless of their racial background. Providing quality care would ensure that women of color receive services as their white counterparts. Additionally, healthcare organizations can address existing racial bias in the organization. Besides, healthcare workers should be trained on how to handle people from different cultures, which would help handle pregnant women of color. By addressing these challenges, the rater of maternal mortality would reduce.
References
Chalhoub, T., & Rimar, K. (2018). The health care system and racial disparities in maternal mortality . Center of American Progress . https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2018/05/10/450577/health-care-system-racial-disparities-maternal-mortality/
Taylor, J., Novoa, C., Hamm, K., & Phadke, S. (2019). Eliminating racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality . Center of American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2019/05/02/469186/eliminating-racial-disparities-maternal-infant-mortality/
Wasserman, J., Palmer, R. C., Gomez, M. M., Berzon, R., Ibrahim, S. A., & Ayanian, J. Z. (2019). Advancing health services research to eliminate health care disparities. American Journal of Public Health , 109 (S1), S64–S69. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304922
