Massachusetts has the best healthcare in the country, but it’s far from perfect. Black women, in particular, had complications during childbirth twice and a half more frequently than their white counterparts, and they faced more than three times the rate of pregnancy-related mortality as white mothers.
Researchers at the Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice at Tufts University School of Medicine are looking for ways to prevent such tragedies, and they have seen the results.
“We need to figure out how to tell a story”
Like any excited mother, Shamony Gibson is looking forward to expanding her family. She and her partner Omari Maynard have become a proud mother and are looking forward to her second mother who is ready to welcome their son into the world.
“You know that, you know. We understand what it takes to be able to create, build and be a family together, you know, so our future is really bright,” Maynard said.
Sadly, Gibson died of a blood clot in his lungs, a complication of an unplanned caesarean section.
Gibson made a video for her unborn child 13 days before her death, saying, “I’m excited to be born tomorrow.”
“Of course, that would be the last video we made together, that video would record the first time, and I want to say the last time, you know, she had a conversation with her son.”
Despite his heartbreakingness, Maynard hopes his losses will lead to changes.
“If we are going to really transform and help redirect the outcome and really want to see this maternal health pandemic change, we need to figure out how to tell all these shaman stories,” he said.
The founder of the Maternal Laboratory says that racial differences are making life a reality
The Maternal Laboratory is a division of the Black Center for Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice, focusing on racial disparities in maternal health care. Founder and Director Dr. Ndidiamaka N. Amutah-Onukagha said the differences could have fatal consequences.
“Your delivery location changes your outcomes,” she said. “What you can access, the quality of the doctors, the quality of the resources,” she said. “Frankly, these mistakes and prejudices have caused losses to people’s lives.”
In 2023, a National Department of Public Health report showed that the incidence of severe maternal maternal morbidity in Massachusetts has risen by 25% over the past decade.
“The faces in the statistics are because we all know that black women are three to four times more likely to die from childbirth than whites,” said research assistant Emily Teixeira.
Research in Mother's Laboratory has helped implement changes in Massachusetts.
Last summer, Gov. Maura Healey signed the Monibus Act, which promotes opportunities for midwife care and out-of-hospital birth options.
But Amutah-Onukagha knows there is still work to be done.
“It’s also re-energizing your work because we need to be on how the health care system of Black women fails all women,” she said.
Amutah-Onukagha said it was all easy to stop, which is why they raised awareness through the 8th Annual Black Pregnant Women’s Health Conference this weekend before next week’s Black Pregnant Women’s Health Week. More information can be found on motherlab.org.
Tiffany Chan
