The CDC held a press briefing on August 22, 2023 during which the participants discussed the weekly Vital Signs report for August 22, 2023, and stated, in part:
CDC analyzed data from the Porter Novelli View Moms Survey administered from April 24-30, 2023, to examine the following components of disrespectful maternity care: first, experiences of mistreatment such as violation of physical privacy, ignoring requests for help, or verbal abuse, discrimination for reasons such as race, ethnicity, or skin color, age or weight, and lastly, holding back from communicating questions or concerns during maternity care — and the reasons why. The Vital Signs report found that one in five women surveyed experienced mistreatment during their maternity care. And those numbers were higher for certain groups of people, of women who reported experiencing mistreatment. 30% were Black 29% were Hispanic, and 27% were multiracial women.
These experiences also vary by insurance status. Women with no insurance or public insurance reported more mistreatment during maternity care than people with private insurance.
The Vital Signs report also looked at discrimination. It found that about 29% of women experienced discrimination while getting maternity care with about 40% of Black, multiracial and Hispanic mothers reporting discrimination. Overall, the most common reasons for reported discrimination were age, weight and income with the most common reason varying by race and ethnicity.
Effective communication between pregnant and postpartum women and their health care providers can make it more likely that there will be accurate timely diagnoses for any complication so that they can get treatment. Yet unfortunately, 45% of women reported holding back from asking their questions or discussing their concerns with their healthcare provider. Some of the most common reasons that were given were thinking or being told by friends or family, that what they were feeling was normal, or not wanting to make a big deal about it or being embarrassed to talk about it. Also thinking their healthcare provider would think they were being difficult, thinking their healthcare provider seemed rushed, and not feeling confident that they knew what they were talking about.
Respectful maternity care can be defined as preventing harm and mistreatment, communicating effectively, and providing equitable and unbiased care. The survey data from our Vital Signs report show that many women report mistreatment and discrimination during maternity care. The data also show that Black, Hispanic, and multiracial women reported mistreatment and discriminations most frequently. This is unacceptable.
We know mistreatment and discrimination can have a negative impact on the quality of maternity care. We have to encourage a culture of respectful maternity care. This should be part of greater efforts to improve quality by standardizing care to reduce complications and deaths related to pregnancy and delivery.
We’ve heard too many heartbreaking stories of women, particularly Black women, who knew something wasn’t right with their pregnancy and voiced it — but were not heard — and died as a result. CDC’s own Dr. Shalon Irving was one of these woman. She was a Lieutenant Commander in the US Public Health Service and an advocate for eliminating health disparities. And I had the honor and pleasure of working with her. In 2017, she died weeks after delivery due to high blood pressure, despite continuously visiting her health care providers, where she kept insisting something was wrong and was being dismissed.
If you or a loved one suffered injury during pregnancy in the United States, you should promptly find a pregnancy medical malpractice lawyer in your state who may investigate your pregnancy malpractice claim for you and represent you or you loved one in a pregnancy medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find pregnancy injury attorneys in your state who may assist you.
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