Study highlights racial disparities in maternal mortality

A multi-tiered approach is needed to combat the Black maternal mortality health crisis, a study concludes. Highlighted in the Agency for Research Healthcare and Quality’s Journal of Patient Safety and published recently in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, the study consists of a literature review of 42 articles. The authors call for cultural competence and disparities training for obstetric providers and increased awareness of the heightened risk of cardiovascular diseases among pregnant Black women. Interventions to dismantle implicit biases and structural racism should be implemented at the provider and health care institution level. “Improving patient-provider relationships through increased cultural competency and disparity education will increase patient engagement with the maternal health care system,” the authors conclude. (AHRQ Journal of Patient Safety Network article, 12/6/23)