Maternal Mortality, Racism, and the Importance of Postpartum Care

Although the country has justifiably turned its attention to the COVID-19 crisis, maternal mortality remains a public health crisis.The maternal mortality rate in the United States is higher than any other high-income nation. Approximately 60% of maternal deaths are preventable. Inexcusably, women of color are disproportionately impacted by this crisis. Black women experience mortality as a result of complications of pregnancy at a rate THREE TO FOUR times higher than white women. American Indian and Alaska Native women die at a rate two to three times higher. This must stop.

 

Today on the podcast is Dr. Tamika Auguste, an OB/GYN at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC, and a member of the Board of Directors for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). 

 

Dr. Tamika Auguste discusses the American maternal mortality crisis, and in particular, why there are such stark racial disparities in maternal mortality. As a contributor to ACOG's guidance on optimizing postpartum care, Dr. Auguste also discusses why postpartum care is so important, what often gets overlooked in postpartum care, how we can ensure moving forward that postpartum care is more accessible to everyone - both so that we can reduce maternal mortality and generally increase the health and wellbeing of postpartum people.

 

Dr. Auguste and Femtastic host Katie Breen discuss both clinical solutions and public policy solutions to this crisis, and what you can do to help. 

 

Lastly, Dr. Auguste tells us about ACOG's new book, available on January 26, 2021, called Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month. Parents who are in the pre-conception, pregnancy, or postpartum period can learn more about pregnancy from the top medical experts on the topic.

Offering real clinical guidance without the clinical jargon, this straightforw