Odems Dorian S, Czaja Erica, Vedam Saraswathi, Evans Na'Tasha, Saltzman Barbara, Scott Karen A
Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
Department of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College St, Worcester, MA, 01610, USA.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2025 May 6. doi: 10.1007/s40615-025-02461-2.
Pregnancy and childbirth traditionally bring worry or a sense of anxiety and distress, particularly among Black women that face historical and contemporary anti-Black racism. We employed two frameworks to assess manifestations of anti-Black racism, structural racism and obstetric racism, as predictors of worry about pregnancy and birth within the Black reproducing community.
In a secondary cross-sectional analysis, we analyzed data from Black women in the Giving Voice to Mothers study who completed all relevant items (n = 260). We conducted descriptive analyses and logistic regression models to explore how worry about pregnancy and birth for the Black reproducing community varies with experiences of obstetric racism and different manifestations of structural racism.
Approximately 71% of the sample worried about pregnancy and birth for themselves and their community. Black women who experienced obstetric racism were statistically significantly more likely to be worried about pregnancy and birth experiences compared to Black women who did not. Furthermore, when structural racism was manifested and measured as hidden resources, among Black women reporting fewer pregnancy and birthing care options for women of color, those who experienced obstetric racism during care were 15.6 times more likely to worry about pregnancy and birthing experiences than those who did not (OR 15.667; 95% CI 1.348-182.058).
The findings demonstrate the complexity of racialized harm enacted against Black women during the perinatal period and underscore the ways in which obstetric racism and contexts of structural racism powerfully shape the meaning and subsequent emotional impact of pregnancy and birthing while Black.
传统上，怀孕和分娩会带来担忧或焦虑与痛苦感，尤其是在面临历史和当代反黑人种族主义的黑人女性中。我们运用了两个框架来评估反黑人种族主义的表现形式，即结构性种族主义和产科种族主义，将其作为黑人生育群体中对怀孕和分娩担忧的预测因素。
在一项二次横断面分析中，我们分析了“母亲发声”研究中完成所有相关项目的黑人女性的数据（n = 260）。我们进行了描述性分析和逻辑回归模型，以探讨黑人生育群体对怀孕和分娩的担忧如何随产科种族主义经历和结构性种族主义的不同表现而变化。
约71%的样本为自己及所在群体的怀孕和分娩感到担忧。与未经历产科种族主义的黑人女性相比，经历产科种族主义的黑人女性在统计学上更有可能对怀孕和分娩经历感到担忧。此外，当结构性种族主义表现为隐性资源并进行衡量时，在报告有色人种女性怀孕和分娩护理选择较少的黑人女性中，在护理期间经历产科种族主义的女性比未经历者对怀孕和分娩经历感到担忧的可能性高15.6倍（比值比15.667；95%置信区间1.348 - 182.058）。
研究结果表明了围产期针对黑人女性的种族化伤害的复杂性，并强调了产科种族主义和结构性种族主义背景如何有力地塑造了黑人怀孕和分娩的意义及后续情感影响。
