STUDENT: Marisa Milton

ADVISOR: Khalid Almasloukh

ABSTRACT:
Black women ages 18 to 50 in America are 3-4 times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications and are twice as likely to experience severe maternal morbidity when compared to white women in the United States (Canty, 2021). Maternal mortality is defined as the death of a woman during pregnancy, at delivery, or soon after delivery (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Despite advances in public health, large racial and ethnic disparities in the US in relation to maternal mortality remain a critical problem (MacDorman, 2021). From 2016-2017 leading causes of death for non-Hispanic Black women were eclampsia, preeclampsia and postpartum cardiomyopathy (MacDorman, 2021). A deeper look must be taken at the preventable causes of death that can be addressed promptly intrapartum and postpartum. Growing research indicates that a continuum of care from preconception through postpartum care may be a critical catalyst for improving outcomes for racial and ethnic minority women (Howell, 2018).