Women of color face more mistreatment in maternity care, CDC report shows

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Cook County has one of the largest disparities of Black maternal mortality in the nation. Places like Howard Brown Health will go so far as picking patients up for checkups. Doctors at Howard Brown health said regardless of access to good healthcare or not, most pregnant Black women and women of color still face health disparities.

Dr. Monica Moore, director of gynecology for Howard Brown Health, said biases in the medical community, especially about Black women, can lead to delayed diagnosis, which in turn can lead to death.

"Some folks feel as if perhaps Black women have higher pain tolerance," Moore gave as an example.

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Black women and women of color face the highest levels of mistreatment in maternity care, including being scolded or threatened with withholding treatment from providers.

"Patients that live on the South Side of Chicago, based on insurance, they have to travel all the way up to the West Side of Chicago to receive, you know, quality care. So zip code matters," Moore said.

Moore said Howard Brown Health's prenatal program will Uber patients to their appointments or other hospitals if needed, but she said it's post-pregnancy where the true issues are.

"More than half of maternal mortality or maternal deaths happen in the postpartum period," Moore said.

In Chicago, Black women are almost six times more likely to die during or within one year of pregnancy than white women, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. Moore said better cultural competency training is imperative for health care providers.

"We send patients out with a prescription to do stuff and we don't give them adequate instruction," she said.

Howard Brown has case managers to directly follow up with patients and offer programs to assist in things like nutrition and housing. But offsetting economic barriers isn't enough, she said.

"No matter what disease processes are going on, African American patients are going to be disproportionately affected," said Moore.

She said her best advice for current and future mothers is simple to ask questions when you are not sure.