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From maternal and mental health to pain and medical care, Black women face major disparities when compared with white women

Chicago Tribune - 5/12/2021

Statistics show that Black women have worse outcomes during pregnancy and postpartum, are more likely to die of breast cancer than white women, and have higher rates of risk factors for heart disease in their 20s and 30s. The Chicago Tribune has written more than a dozen stories in the last couple of years on these topics and other health issues facing Black women.

Public health officials, doctors and researchers have sounded the alarm, and some steps have been taken to decrease the disparities and work toward health equity. For instance, Gov. J.B. Pritzker in April signed a law requiring Medicaid to cover doula services for pregnant women and putting hospital closures on hold until the end of the pandemic, among other measures to address racial disparities in the state’s health care system.

Here, we share some of our coverage on health issues affecting Black women. Follow the links to read more about each topic and to see what people are doing about it.

Maternal health

The Illinois Department of Public Health’s recently released Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Report showed that Black women died from pregnancy-related conditions three times more often than white women. And according to a study in the Journal of the American Heart Association, Black women have the highest risk of pregnancy-related heart problems, even when adjusting for socioeconomic differences.

At the end of last year, the Illinois Senate’s Public Health and Health and Human Services committees held hearings to look for ways to shrink pregnancy-related disparities between Black and white women.

The Maternal Child Health and Wellness facility opened in February on the Ingalls Memorial Hospital campus in Harvey. The facility is focusing on maternal health to reduce maternal mortality in Black women with preventive care and high-risk pregnancy care, case managers to help patients navigate the health care system and behavioral health professionals. One of the goals is to be a one-stop shop for women throughout their lives with family care services such as parenting classes, as well as “wraparound” services to help with housing, food, insurance and financial issues.

Breast cancer

Recent research focuses on inferior screening as one of the reasons African American women are more likely to die of breast cancer than white women. For instance, Black women are less likely to get 3D mammograms, according to studies published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology and JAMA Network Open, and should be getting screened at an earlier age, according to Linda Goler Blount, one of the authors of the JAMA paper.

Where you live also has an impact. A University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study found that living in a neighborhood with a predominantly African American population increased Black and white women’s odds of dying from breast cancer.

Cervical cancer

Equal Hope, a health equity nonprofit network of health care providers, community leaders and advocates has set its sights on eliminating cervical cancer disparities and ultimately eradicating the disease in the Chicago area. The group previously helped reduce breast cancer deaths among Black women.

Heart disease

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of men and women in the U.S. Emory University Hospital recently reported that Black women had high rates of risk factors, such as obesity and high blood pressure, as early as in their 20s and 30s, that put them on the trajectory to developing heart disease. Experts are advocating for more education of the public and health practitioners to encourage lifestyle changes to save lives.

Pain

A Northwestern Medicine study found that Black and Latina women report more pain postpartum than white women, yet they receive less opioid medication in the hospital and are less likely to receive a prescription for an opioid at postpartum discharge. Previous studies have found that minority patients with migraines and long bone fractures receive less pain medication than white patients.

Mental health

Faced with the additional stressors of the pandemic and social injustice, mental health problems also seem to be on the rise. And this comes at a time when a relatively small number of mental health professionals are Black.

Doctors

Black Chicagoans say doctors often don’t believe them, dismiss their concerns or don’t fully explain their options. Racial prejudices might be explicit, or well-meaning medical providers might act differently toward Black patients because of implicit bias, when their actions are automatic or unconscious.

ssreynolds@chicagotribune.com

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