Miscarriage risk 43% higher for Black women, new study suggests

Taking a look at Black maternal mortality

According to the White House, the country’s maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the developed world, and they are especially high among Black mothers.

Black women face a significantly higher risk of having a miscarriage than White women, a new study revealed.

The analysis, published in "The Lancet," involved data from nine studies, consisting of more than 4.6 million pregnancies in seven countries. Researchers found that Black ethnicity was associated with "a high miscarriage risk."

The data showed the risk of miscarriage for Black women was 43% higher than for White women.

"Black ethnicity is associated with a higher risk of miscarriage when compared with White ethnicity, as is male age of 40 years or older, even after adjusting for confounders such as the age of his female partner," the study authors wrote.

The risk of miscarriage was lowest in women aged 20-29 years old at 12% increasing to 65% in women aged 45 years and older. Meanwhile, women with no history of a miscarriage had a miscarriage risk of 11% increasing to 42% in women with three or more previous miscarriages.

"We recommend miscarriage data are gathered and reported to facilitate comparison of miscarriage rates among countries, to accelerate research, and to improve patient care and policy development," the study authors wrote.

The study did not analyze why Black women had a higher risk of miscarrying.

In April, President Biden announced steps to address the high mortality rate among Black mothers in the United States, saying they’re often not getting the proper care because of racial biases.

"In the United States of America, a person’s race should never determine their health outcomes, and pregnancy and childbirth should be safe for all," Biden said in a statement. "However, for far too many Black women, safety and equity have been tragically denied."

According to the White House, the country’s maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the developed world, and they are especially high among Black mothers, who die from complications related to pregnancy at roughly two to three times the rate of white, Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islander women — regardless of their income or education levels.

"We know the primary reasons why: systemic racial inequities and implicit bias," Vice President Kamala Harris said during a session on Black mental health. "And the consequences are both very real."

The research on miscarriages among Black mothers comes after separate studies which showed that African Americans are disproportionately likely to be impacted by other illnesses including COVID-19.

In June 2020, 11% of African Americans said they were close with someone who has died from the coronavirus, compared with 5% of Americans overall and 4% of White Americans.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has brought social and racial injustice and inequity to the forefront of public health. It has highlighted that health equity is still not a reality as COVID-19 has unequally affected many racial and ethnic minority groups, putting them more at risk of getting sick and dying from COVID-19," the CDC wrote in December.

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