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.”
