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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte panel made up of doctors, midwives and mental health experts will tackle the topic of Black maternal health care Tuesday as health officials seek solutions for women who are pregnant and need prenatal care.
Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women, according to the CDC. The ongoing crisis is facing thousands of expectant mothers across North Carolina.
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Tuesday’s panel will focus on how health care providers are better service Black women during their pregnancies. It will be held at Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood at 6 p.m. It will be streamed live on Facebook at this link.
“Maternal health statistics, maternal mortality statistics in the United States are some of the worst in the industrial world, and it’s much worse for Black women,” Dr. Douglas Robinson with the Reimagining America Project said.
Reimagining America is a group working to tackle discrimination and racism within different systems, like health care. Robinson says Black mothers largely feel “unheard and unseen” by the U.S. health care system.
The goal of Tuesday’s panel discussion is to highlight ways to correct the troubling trend that Black women are more likely to die from complications due to pregnancy than white women.
“The blueprint for that is to have educational events, forums and programs where we talk about these issues,” Robinson said.
It’s an issue he’s seen firsthand.
“In health care these days, there’s some pressure to see patients frequently and a lot of times we don’t take the extra time to actually dig into the background of the patient,” Robinson explained.
The push for change is so that for some it’s not a matter of life and death.
Lexi Wilson at lwilson@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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