The health equity community is buzzing over newly published research results from Georgia’s first-ever statewide survey of maternal health that highlights health disparities across racial, economic, geographic and other indicators.
Presented in conjunction with the launch of the inaugural Symposium to Address the Maternal Health Crisis in Georgia, the data offers key insights into Georgia’s maternal health emergency. The state is among the highest ranking in the U.S. with respect to pregnancy-related complications and death rates for Black women. Moreover, a range of social determinants of health also disproportionately impacts Black women in Georgia. Heightened maternal mortality was shown in the research to exist to a greater extent among patients with associations to a lack of insurance, drug disorders, mental health diagnoses and other contributors.
The research was conducted with 803 adult residents in Georgia, as well as an additional 606 participants included for minority oversampling. Among the results were these findings as well:
<> Patients residing in rural geographies were more likely to have had, or know patients who have had, pregnancy complications, versus their urban counterparts.
<> Enhancing the access and affordability of maternal health care, including health insurance coverage, is a top reported priority.
<> Respondents reported their feelings that the Georgia health care system discriminates against maternal patients on many factors, including whether they possess health insurance, their financial capabilities, their race or ethnicity, and their fluency with English.
Given the breadth of constituencies that attended the Symposium to Address the Maternal Health Crisis in Georgia (e.g. health care professionals, community health nonprofits, state and federal government representatives), health equity advocates are optimistic that the publication and dissemination of the study’s results will impact and influence key decision makers to further rally behind greater improvements in maternal health moving into 2024 and beyond.
