ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida received a “D+” grade from the March of Dimes when it comes to adequate maternal health care. That’s slightly improved from a “D” in 2023, according to the March of Dimes annual report cards.
The report highlights the ongoing challenges faced by mothers in the United States. But one group, Black women, experience disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality, preterm births, and infant mortality.
Watch the video below to learn what local moms have experienced and what they’re doing to help others.
News 6 anchor Bridgett Ellison explored the current state of Black maternal health by meeting with local mothers and an obstetrician-gynecologist (OBGYN) to discuss their personal experiences with pregnancy and childbirth complications.
Underlying health conditions often impact Black women’s health before pregnancy and lead to complications. Dr. Lareesa Ferdinand, Heather Jennings, and Sherita Polke all experienced hurdles on the road to motherhood. All three battled uterine fibroids, a condition more likely to impact Black women in their reproductive years.
“Yes, it (fibroid) grew with my children. Yeah, big time,” Jennings said. “Before I had my second child, I had to have a myomectomy to get pregnant with my daughter, but it all came back. And I just had a hysterectomy.”
Diabetes and high blood pressure are among the most common conditions that create complications before, during and after pregnancy. Preeclampsia, pregnancy-related high blood pressure, is 60% more common among Black women.
Polke, a mother of two, shared her struggles with developing preeclampsia after giving birth.
“When I leaned back to have my hair washed, she couldn’t even touch my scalp without the pain being present. And it was just wisdom. Thankfully, from historically understanding what blood pressure is and knowing that something’s not right, so I just heard a voice that said, go get your blood pressure checked. And when I checked my blood pressure, my blood was literally in stroke mode. Like I was 190 over 102. And then I was like, this can’t be right. Something’s not right about this. I took it again and it lowered a little bit. But I called a nurse friend and she said, I don’t know anyone with those numbers that are not laying on their back in the hospital, go to the hospital. And so that was my journey of learning that I actually had this preeclampsia post-delivery,” Polke explained.
Black women are also 50% more likely to deliver early due to complications. For Jennings, unmanaged high blood pressure, which ran in her family, led to premature births for both her children.
“And they said, your blood pressure is too high. And so you’re going to stay here. So I was in the hospital for about seven days before I had my son Jackson. He was born at 32 weeks. And he was in a NICU for three weeks, five days. Then he came home and so I was OK. I’ve been through the worst of it. I’m good. I know what to expect. So when I had my second child, I already was going to a high-risk doctor. So I knew that I was getting additional care. I was asking for the additional care because of what happened with my son, but this time it was a little bit worse. I went to the doctors and I literally told the valet, ‘don’t move my car. I’ll be right back. I’m just going to get a quick a quick appointment,’ and the doctor literally said we’re admitting you because my blood pressure was at a stroke level and I wasn’t giving any nutrients to my daughter. And I felt perfectly fine, which is the scariest part,” Jennings explained.
Jennings’ experience with her first preemie prompted her to create a more specific care plan for her second pregnancy. She sought out a highly rated high-risk doctor and a hospital with a NICU, which turned out to be very helpful.
“I was in the hospital for 30 days. I made it all the way to 27 weeks, five days, I believe, and then my daughter was born. And she was a micro-preemie. She was one pound, eight ounces and so she was in the NICU for 100 days.” “I did a lot of research for my doctor and the practice, and I’m so thankful for all the care that I had throughout the process,” she said.
Chronic stress also impacts the health and pregnancies of Black women. Ferdinand, a busy OBGYN, shared her own challenges balancing work stress with pregnancy concerns.
“Just from my personal experience, I was 37 when I got pregnant.” “I really love what I do. But my mental mindset was, I was the only female OB-GYN in my practice. So I want to do what the men do. I can still do it. Yes, I am pregnant,” she explained. “Oh, I can work until I’m about to deliver, you know, because, and all of these are mindset shifts of when I go back and look at it, I had a cerclage because I had a weak cervix because of a previous surgery that I had. There were certain things that I was modified that I needed to make sure I did or did not do. I ended up with a C-section at the end of it and you know, all beautiful things in a way with having that delivery, but still my mindset shift was I’m in a place where I don’t have family and my main concern sometimes was could I still show up for my patients and I’m still going to work. So I felt that I kind of missed out on some just beautiful moments of just being pregnant,” she said.
Having survived numerous challenges, these women hope that by sharing their lessons learned, they can help others take charge of their health through education and advocacy.
“I tell them to ask questions. I am very open about my experience too, that’s why I’m here because I wish I would have known some of the things to ask those questions and to look out for and the more I talk to other women, I find out that I’m not alone, but people just don’t talk about it as much as they can and I want to normalize it. So, I would just say ask questions, ask your family about history,” Jennings said.
Polke emphasized education.
“I would just add to just educate yourself as much as possible. There’s so many materials out there and sometimes it can be overwhelming, but the important thing is building that relationship with your physician and asking those questions that you know you may not know to ask.”
Ferdinand suggested bringing someone along to appointments for support and help remembering questions and information.
“One of the biggest things I can tell someone is to bring somebody with you on the appointment. It’s something about entering a doctor’s office, and I’ve learned this over time, it brings patients anxiety. You know, it could have been a previous experience,” she explained.
“So bring somebody with you if you can during your appointments,” she said.
These mothers emphasize the importance of finding the right providers for specific prenatal and postpartum health needs, such as specialists in uterine surgery, high-risk pregnancies, and premature births.
Ferdinand recommends writing down questions before all appointments, asking for call-backs if more questions arise, and requesting extra appointments as needed.
She personally recommends seeking a doula for help with your pregnancy and postpartum journey, as it benefited her family in the process.
To learn how “AdventHealth’s ‘Fourth Trimester’ program is addressing health disparities, CLICK HERE, or read our previous coverage.
The CDC offers more resources on preventing maternal mortality on its website.
You can also look at the data on maternal mortality in the United States on the CDC website HERE.
You can also find resources, events and more by checking out the group Black Mamas Matter Alliance.
