The lived experience of severe maternal morbidity among Black women

Black women are 3–4 times more likely to die from a pregnancy‐related complication and twice as likely to experience severe maternal morbidity when compared to white women in the United States. The risks for pregnancy‐related maternal mortality are well documented, yet Black women's experiences...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nursing inquiry 2022-01, Vol.29 (1), p.e12466-n/a
Main Author: Canty, Lucinda
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
At risk populations
Black people
Black women
Blacks
Childbirth & labor
Clinical outcomes
Delivery, Obstetric
Female
Healing
Health status
Humans
Maternal characteristics
Maternal mortality
Morbidity
Mothers
Nursing
Nursing care
perinatal health inequities
phenomenology
Postpartum period
Postpartum women
Pregnancy
pregnancy complications
qualitative
Race
Racism
severe maternal morbidity
Severity
Uncertainty
United States
van Manen interpretive phenomenology
Womens health
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Summary:Black women are 3–4 times more likely to die from a pregnancy‐related complication and twice as likely to experience severe maternal morbidity when compared to white women in the United States. The risks for pregnancy‐related maternal mortality are well documented, yet Black women's experiences of life‐threatening morbidity are essentially absent in the nursing literature. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of Black women who developed severe maternal morbidity. Face‐to‐face, one‐to‐one, in‐depth conversational interviews were conducted with nine Black women who experienced life‐threatening complications during childbirth or postpartum. Five essential themes emerged (1) I Only Know What I Know; (2) How You Cared for Me; (3) Race Matters; (4) Faced with Uncertainty; and (5) Still Healing. These themes illuminate the complexity of Black women's subjective interpretations of severe maternal morbidity, and reveal ways in which racism, not race, places Black women at risk for poor maternal health outcomes. The author envisions greater equity for Black mothers entrusted to nursing care, guided by nursing theories informed by these study findings.
ISSN:1320-7881
1440-1800
DOI:10.1111/nin.12466