Aligning maternal health policies with birthing people’s preferences and experiences
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Porter, Zara, author Liu, Jackie, (Of Urban Institute), author Willis, Carla, author Johnston, Emily M., author Benatar, Sarah, author
- Contributor(s):
- Health Policy Center (Urban Institute), issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, DC : Urban Institute, October 2023
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Ethnic and Racial Minorities Health Equity -- economics Health Inequities Health Policy Involuntary Treatment -- legislation & jurisprudence Maternal Health -- legislation & jurisprudence Maternal Mortality Parturition -- psychology Patient Preference Social Determinants of Health United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- The US's maternal mortality and morbidity rates are strikingly high, especially among Black and Indigenous individuals. Documenting the birthing experiences and preferences of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx pregnant and parenting women and others who can become pregnant is critical to informing and shaping policy conversations around initiatives and programs designed to improve outcomes and mitigate maternal and infant health inequities. Our team conducted in-depth phone interviews with 19 women and focus groups with 26 women nationwide to understand their experiences and preferences for care throughout pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum. We focused our recruitment on Black, Latinx, and Native American/Indigenous pregnant and postpartum individuals. Important takeaways include ensuring that those who are pregnant/postpartum are provided with full, relevant information needed to make informed decisions and feel they have bodily autonomy. Participants shared frustration with the lack of pregnancy and delivery care options and feelings of coercion and powerlessness regarding decisions about their bodies during pregnancy. These findings reinforce the need to align the birthing preferences and lived experiences of women of color and other pregnant/postpartum individuals of color and center their voices in the policy conversation.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (9 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918734183206676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918734183206676