Racial Disparities in Maternal Health: The Role of Preexisting Health Conditions
Focus: Severe Maternal Morbidity
Data Source: Texas Hospital Discharge Data from All Delivery Hospitalizations, 2016
to 2022
Annamaria Milazzo | JUNE 2024
REPORT
Racial Disparities in Maternal Health: The Role of Preexisting Health Conditions
Report Webinar Recording - July 12, 2024
Report Presentation Transcript
Abstract
The US maternal health crisis disproportionately affects Black women, who in Texas
face double the likelihood of Severe Maternal Morbidity (SMM—near misses for maternal
death during labor and delivery) compared to White women. Using 2016-2022 Texas hospital
discharge data, this study finds that preexisting health conditions explain up to
78 percent of the Black-White SMM gap. The remaining unexplained gap is 18-20 percent
across and within hospitals, even among women attended by the same physician. Over
the study period, health disparities appear to have remained stable. Overall, the
findings underscore the critical need for prioritizing women’s health well before
childbirth hospitalization.
This report is a synopsis of a longer study, which is accessible online at SSRN.com.


