Shining a Spotlight on Black Maternal Health

Recently, as part of Black Maternal Health Week, Epic hosted expert speakers to discuss racial bias in healthcare and black maternal health, public health perspectives, and upstream prevention. Speakers focused on the need for recognizing and addressing the root causes and systemic issues that have led to racial disparities in healthcare. Black Maternal Health Week is a nationwide campaign to raise awareness and promote activism to improve black maternal health.

In studies that control for risk factors such as education, poverty, and pre-pregnancy health, black women are consistently at higher risk for adverse outcomes than their white peers during pregnancy. Black women in the United States are three to four times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts.

“Electronic medical records have made a huge difference. We can better track a mother’s health,” but there is still room for improvement, said Dr. Chanel Tyler, an obstetrician who specializes in high-risk pregnancies at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

Support for care delivery methods that establish trust between provider and patient is essential for patient empowerment.

“How do we consider all those factors when developing tools?” asked Lisa Peyton-Caire, founder and president of The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness.

The sessions were facilitated by Epic’s “Health Disparities and Health Equity” and “Saving Mommies” initiatives which are working to address racial disparities in healthcare and maternal mortality using Epic tools.

Read more about Black Maternal Health Week from the Black Mamas Matter Alliance.