By Ericka Miller
Bleeding profusely due to an unhealed near-fatal complication with a previous birth, Timoria McQueen Saba lay on the bathroom floor scared to death and confused as to what was the root of her pain — much to her ignorance it was her unborn child.
Similar events happen to 830 women every day throughout the world due to complications with a previous child-birth– That’s 303,000 a year. In just the United States alone, the lives of 700 to 1,200 women take that fatal turn; Black woman being three to four times more likely to die because of it.
For such a developed country the data seems shocking, even more so when maternal deaths are steadily decreasing in lesser developed countries. However, according to officials, it only seems as though there’s been an increase in death rates because of a new, more accurate system in calculating deaths by using a classification code. Others argue this is the cause of other factors such as obesity, women having children at older ages, and changes in public.
Regardless of the numerous opinions on the topic, it remains a fact that there is no definite answer to these deaths; that this situation targets African American women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this racial divide in childbirth death rates isn’t anything new.
Doctors conclude that this is the result of the aforementioned factors, such as obesity and high blood pressure, are found to be more common with African American women. These maternal deaths may also be the result of their access to healthcare, socioeconomic status, and level of stress and community help among black women.
“If we could narrow variation in outcomes and improve quality of care for pregnant women, we would reduce disparities,” says Dr. Howell an OB/GYN and professor at Icahn School of Medicine. Howell, along with her colleagues, have gathered that 63 percent of White women and 23 of Black women give birth in the safest hospitals. In order to close this gap and solve the problem, every hospital around the country is now making an effort to abide by the established standardized protocols, called patient safety bundles, whether or not they serve mostly white or black women.
Saba now attends therapy and finds solace in sharing her story in PTSD group chats and yoga after her ordeal. I decided to advocate for better maternal health care for all women,” she said. “Low-income women, women of color, immigrant women are more likely to be uninsured. So not having access to maybe family planning services and all sorts of things can increase risk.” Saba will continue to spread her story, as well as her knowledge on this on growing problem for those in need.
