Closing the Maternal Health Gap in the Black Community  

The Black community faces staggering disparities in life expectancy compared to their white counterparts. An analysis by Yale School of Medicine found 1.63 million excess deaths in the Black population compared with white Americans, representing 80 million years of potential life lost. One significant challenge is the racial disparities in access to healthcare historically limited by residential segregation. This historical isolation from other communities reduces the public sense of urgency regarding health matters, and findings indicate that it also limits access to quality facilities and services, including primary care providers, specialists, and hospitals. This lack of access can result in delayed diagnoses, inadequate treatment, and poorer health outcomes. 

The issue of health equity has broad impacts on broader health outcomes across the entire Black community; one of the most pressing is its effects on pregnancy and childbirth. The CDC reported that Black women in the United States are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women. This trend also leads to more dangerous outcomes for babies and transcends socioeconomic factors, with affluent Black mothers more likely to lose their babies than poor White mothers. The same study reported on by the New York Times found that “Black mothers and babies had worse outcomes than those who were Hispanic, Asian or white in all the health measures the researchers looked at: whether babies were born early or underweight; whether mothers had birth-related health problems like eclampsia or sepsis; and whether the babies and mothers died.”  

Addressing healthcare disparities in the Black community regarding pregnancy requires a comprehensive and versatile approach, including increasing access to quality care, cultural competence and implicit bias training, diverse representation, policy changes, and community engagement and education. It’s essential to recognize that while socioeconomic status does play a role, it is not always the singular determinative factor in addressing disparities. It is not an adequate proxy for race in many circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic greatly expanded how governments and healthcare organizations approach the collection of health data. While the data privacy implications will factor into these efforts, pharma & biotech companies must continue on this path. 

Community engagement proves to be an opportunity for pharma companies to connect to these patient populations as grassroots organizations, such as the Black Mamas Matter Alliance and the Afiya Center, bring education and support to these underserved and often overlooked communities. As trust in the US healthcare system continues to be an area of criticism due to their own lived experiences, these organizations empower Black mothers to advocate for themselves in healthcare interactions or work to create spaces for Black HCPs to educate their non-Black peers on how to provide unbiased care. These organizations have also partnered with the Black Maternal Health Caucus to champion the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, whose bills combat the rising maternal mortality rate directly through healthcare reform while indirectly addressing social determinants of health. Engagement with these organizations during Black Maternal Health Week in April allows them to amplify their powerful mission, as more than 10K social posts from #BMHW23 were shared that included Black mothers sharing their own stories and organizations strengthening statistics to highlight how dire the experience can be. A trending discussion among Black mothers is the lengths they’ll go through to feel safe, and their loyalty to trusted HCPs as their needs are less likely to be questioned. 

Naturally, for all organizations, healthcare is tied back to patient outcomes. The healthcare industry has historically underrepresented the needs of Black mothers. Engaging in and responding to a dialogue at the community level and establishing more localized presences in those communities in coordination with a push to collect more robust data relating to the health challenges of Black mothers would be the first step in a long-term concerted effort to improve health outcomes for these mothers and the Black patient community at large. 

A PWC report published in 2022 concluded that data is the first step in understanding where to focus. There isn’t always a firm understanding of why these disparities exist because of a historical lack of representation of Black women in clinical trials. More research is needed to understand Black mothers’ issues, be it the stress inflicted by microaggressions, air pollution, or access to paid family leave, all of which have been flagged as potential factors. For that research to proceed, all organizations must make a concerted effort to collect more data to study both medical implications of social determinants of health. Data can also ensure that more advanced solutions that can expand access to healthcare, like AI-powered algorithms, are not making decisions informed by biased datasets.  

In light of the significant healthcare disparities, brands, and stakeholders must take proactive and meaningful action within the community, even beyond expanding clinical trials and data acquisition. The differences in life expectancy, maternal mortality rates, and overall health outcomes within the Black community demand a comprehensive solution and increased awareness for the Black community and the professionals that treat them. To bridge this gap, brands should implement omnichannel strategies that educate on increased access to quality healthcare facilities, cultural competence training, and education detailing the challenges and life-changing treatments available. For many organizations that run corporate branding initiatives, campaigns specifically optimized toward behavioral change for healthcare professionals are essential. From a messaging perspective, partnering with key opinion leaders and hosting editorial-style roundtables to drive conversations within HCP communities will be crucial in raising HCPs knowledge around these tactics. As with any media campaign, cutting through with tried tactics is often not enough; setting aside budgets for more innovative solutions is critical to driving change.   

Similarly on the patient side, pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies should start with collaboration with grassroots organizations such as the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, the Afiya Center, and other organizations that can facilitate community engagement and education, nurture trust, and promote advocacy. Organizations can often benefit from the adjacent authenticity of these organizations to start, especially if they do not have a long-term historical presence in the Black community. Once brands have established a relationship with these communities, they should lean into more direct community outreach while continuing to partner with local organizations. Addressing the unique challenges Black mothers face through inclusive research, localized healthcare initiatives, and community engagement; brands can contribute to lasting improvements in the health outcomes of Black individuals. This commitment will enhance the well-being of Black mothers and promote health equity within the broader Black patient community.