Pregnancy and Prejudice

Why are babies born to African American mothers twice as likely to die before their first birthday than babies of European descent? Many arrows are pointing to prenatal stress.

All pregnant women experience stress in pregnancy, causing a spike in stress hormones. When the stressful stimulation is eliminated, so are the stress hormones. That is, unless stress is a constant factor in your life.

When a developing fetus is exposed to stress hormones on a consistent and prolonged basis, the growing brain is permanently affected by the, now, toxic stress. Toxic stress causes many medical and developmental issues such as low birth weight, premature birth, inadequate emotional regulation, developmental delays, physical growth inhibition, decreased spacial reasoning, and chronic biological stress patterns.

African American mothers experience premature births at an alarmingly high rate compared to any other race. Traditionally, researchers thought that a lack of education and financial stability contributed to poorer birth outcomes in African American families. However, we are finding that the statistics of premature birth remain the same no matter how educated or wealthy the mother is. In fact, African American mothers with a college degree are still more likely to deliver prematurely than a white mother with only a high school diploma.

Some researchers argue that genes play a role in the birth outcomes of each race, however, if this were true, women in native African lands would experience the same outcomes. It turns out that women living in Africa experience full term healthy babies at the same rate as white women in America.

What is the missing link?

Racial discrimination in America.

African American women experience racial discrimination throughout their entire lives. Racial discrimination occurs everywhere: healthcare access, education opportunities, employment opportunities, social engagements, and general daily life. It is a never ending cause of stress for African American women. The experience of racial discrimination has been a bigger determination of negative birth outcomes than smoking cigarettes during pregnancy (Chatterjee and Davis, NPR).

Another aspect to consider for these women is that they are the sole breadwinners and heads of household a majority of the time. African American men are unemployed or incarcerated at an alarming rate due to the prison pipeline and racial discrimination in the workplace. This causes a lot of stress for these mothers, and thus, their babies are experiencing the major effects.

It is imperative that the maternal healthcare field begin to recognize the reasons behind negative birth outcomes associated with racial identity so that professionals are more attentive to the warning signs of prenatal toxic stress. It is also imperative that our society recognize racial and social injustices so that we can begin to make forward-moving progress to alleviate the stress experienced by mothers of color.