Expanding and Protecting Black Women Access to Competent Community Providers

 Black women access maternal, reproductive, and basic healthcare services from community health care providers.  Minus these services, African American women’s information about preventive care, prenatal care, annual exams, or birth control will be limited (National Partnership for Women & Families, 2018). Therefore, policymakers should increase funding for competent community-based providers to help African American pregnant women remain healthy throughout their pregnancy.

Improving Interactions between Healthcare Workers and Pregnant Black Women

  Training healthcare workers is necessary to reduce bias and discrimination of African American women when accessing prenatal care.  The training should enhance healthcare workers’ cultural competence to facilitate their delivery of care to an ethnically diverse patient population. The training should also incorporate midwives from diverse racial backgrounds to address black women’s reproductive health care needs and reduce maternal deaths related to pregnancy-related complications.

Conclusion

 Racial discrimination results in pregnant black women accessing poor care quality. Like their white counterparts, African American women deserve quality health care services and safe childbirth and pregnancies. Therefore, policymakers, nurse leaders, and communities should partner to address African American women’s barriers to accessing quality and safe care. Some of these barriers include racial bias and underinsurance. Systematic changes in the healthcare delivery system are necessary to enhance black women’s access to respectful, patient-centered, quality, and safe care that reflects their needs. These changes will ensure the optimal well-being and health of pregnant African-American women.

References

American Heart Association News. (2019, February 20). Why are black women at such high risk of dying from pregnancy complications? https://www.heart.org/en/news/2019/02/20/why-are-black-women-at-such-high-risk-of-dying-from-pregnancy-complications