Powell 1
Alana Powell
Professor Nic Frame
SOC 22000-005
1 Aug 2022
African American Maternal Healthcare Disparities
Towards the conclusion of this class, we have talked about many concepts two of the
major ones that personally affect me are healthcare and race, hence the topic of my essay,
“African American Maternal Healthcare Disparities.” About 500,000 people in the labor and
delivery process have unexpected outcomes, and from that 700 people die annually from
pregnancy each year. Yet, black women are about three times as likely to have a mortality than
their white women counterparts. There is also a lower estimated life expectancy in African and
Native Americans than any other group, and the infant mortality rate is twice as high for black
people than their white counterparts. These significant disparities are found in racial institutions,
and the lack of proper healthcare provided to the racial group.
The beginning of the healthcare disparity found in black women can be traced back to the
eugenics movement, which is the belief that certain populations were superior to another and
therefore, there needs to be a limited reproduction in the other populations. The eugenics
movement caused the passing of the “first state law to prevent the procreation of confirmed
criminals, idiots, imbeciles, and rapists (Cuisick, 2022)” passed in Indiana in 1907. This had
serious racial connotations behind the passing of the law because people of color were perceived
to be all of the following on the list by the “superior race”, whites. The creation of this law
caused many black women to be sterilized without consent or knowledge, which was legally
