My research is based on an article by Jessica Pendergrass detailing the precarious plight of black women during pregnancy. Pendergrass’ research explores the disparate outcomes for black women during the childbirth process. According to CDC information in her research, black women are almost four times as likely to die during childbirth than their white counterparts. Pendergrass delves deeply into the historical and systemic reasons for this inequity. The concept of weathering is explored in her research, and we learn, the impact of structural racism on the material health of black women. Weathering is a topic I intend to explore in more detail during the research process. The steps now being taken to implement programs to study and address the issue are hopeful. The social determinants discussed in Pendergrass’ research are alarming. I hope to gain more insight as I delve deeper into the concept of weathering.
Pendergrass, Jessica, When She Gives Life at the Cost of Death: Insight on the High Maternal Mortality Rate Among Black Women (April 15, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3577151 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3577151
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw9SykvEcVk