AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File
July 15, 2024 Story by: Editor
A new study reveals that Black women in Texas experience severe pregnancy complications nearly twice as often as white women. According to a report by a researcher at the University of Houston, the disparity has worsened over recent years.
In 2016, out of every 10,000 hospitalizations, about 50 white women experienced complications compared to over 100 Black women. By 2022, this number increased to about 60 white women and approximately 125 Black women experiencing complications per 10,000 hospitalizations.
“The main message is that there is a critical need for a major focus on the health of women well before they conceive and well before they give birth,” said Annamaria Milazzo, the study’s author and a research assistant professor with UH’s Institute for Research on Women, Gender and Sexuality. “This is very relevant to the State of Texas, which is the U.S. state that is the second largest in terms of the number of births and has the highest share of women in the reproductive ages who don’t have insurance.”
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Milazzo’s research examined Texas hospital discharge data from 2016 through 2022, covering nearly 2.5 million births. The findings indicate that preexisting health conditions are a major contributor to the disparity in severe complications, though differences in treatment due to bias or access to high-quality care also play a role. She presented these findings during a webinar with other experts.
“Preexisting health really matters in explaining severe maternal morbidity,” Milazzo said. “Even among Black and white women who are going to the same hospital, seeing the same physician, we still see that there is a significant gap.”
The study also highlighted that the overall rate of severe pregnancy complications, such as hemorrhaging, eclampsia, sepsis, and organ failure, increased by 18% from 2016 to 2022.
Neema Langa, an Assistant Professor of African American studies and sociology at the University of Houston, who researches maternal morbidity, commented on the findings: “Texas is a maternity care desert. So if you’re living in an area where you don’t have good access, maybe because you don’t have hospitals, maybe because you don’t have money or you don’t have health insurance — so you’re under-insured or not insured — things like that may all intersect together to influence your likelihood of having severe maternal morbidities.”
Milazzo’s analysis attributes 78% of the racial disparity in pregnancy complications to preexisting conditions, while up to 20% can be explained by other factors, such as bias or access to high-quality care.
“It just seems so overwhelming that there are so many sources that are contributing to these disparities,” said Zelma Tuthill, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Houston. “Black women and white women who gave birth in the same hospital with the same doctor still have these differences, and oftentimes we are told that if it’s the medical care, or it’s where they’re giving birth, or it’s who they’re talking to, and it really made me think about, what are these possible solutions and answers to that?”
Regarding policy recommendations, Milazzo pointed to the gap in health insurance, noting that about one in four women of reproductive age in Texas lack health insurance. “It is a very hard question,” Milazzo said. “For me, it’s unthinkable that people cannot see a doctor when they need it … I don’t think there is one single policy, but I think the first thing and easiest thing is to expand Medicaid to low-income women.”
The worsening rate of severe pregnancy complications in Texas aligns with a decline in life expectancy and overall health conditions in the United States. Source: Houston Public Media
