Maternal deaths among black women are double that of white women, says study – 11/23/2023 – Health

Like other health indicators, maternal mortality is higher in black women than white women, according to a survey by the Ministry of Health.

Preliminary data for 2022 indicate that, while the number of maternal deaths is approximately 46.5 deaths for every 100,000 live births for white women, in the case of black women, it is more than double: 100.4 deaths for every 100 thousand live births. In the case of browns, the incidence is 50.4.

The data are from the Nascer no Brasil II Survey: National Survey on Abortion, Childbirth and Birth, carried out in partnership with Fiocruz, which uses information from the SUS (Unified Health System) and which presents an in-depth scenario on birth and pregnancy, launched in this Thursday (23).

For a death to be considered maternal, the death must occur during pregnancy, childbirth or within 42 days after birth. Another point is that the cause of death must be related to or aggravated by pregnancy.

Brazil has set a goal with the United Nations to reduce deaths to 30 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. Reversing situations like this depends on the adoption of different public policies.

The Birth in Brazil Survey presents the concept of maternal mortality ratio (MMR), which is the number of deaths, registered within 42 days after the end of pregnancy (attributed to causes linked to pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period) per 100 thousand born alive.

In 2020 and 2021, during the Covid pandemic, the difference was also significant: in 2021, the MMR was 194.8 for black women (127.6 in 2020); 121 for white women (64.8 in 2020) and 100 for brown women (68.8 in 2020).

But, considering the historical series and the sample of black women, it is important to highlight that similar data were recorded in a period long before the pandemic: in 2016, black women accounted for 119.4 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 52.9 in white.

This Thursday, the government will also start a meeting to launch a work plan to reduce maternal mortality.

According to the advisor for Racial Equity at the Ministry of Health, Luís Eduardo Batista, the objective is to involve several sectors to, at the end of the two-day event, structure a work proposal. “We intend to create a plan with goals and actions that can be developed by the federal government, agreed between health professionals, in dialogue with civil society, with state and municipal managers and also with movements of black women and humanization of the labor and birth”, he explains.

During the meeting, the Ministry of Health also launched the campaign “Racism is bad for your health”. The agenda will be discussed on social media, with materials in different formats, raising awareness that racism is a social determinant of health.