Black Maternal Health Week – Research Spotlight from the 2023 Annual Pregnancy Meeting

By: Dr. Marta Perez

As we close out the 6th annual Black Maternal Health Week (#BMHW23), maternal-fetal medicine physicians, like me, are again reminded of the importance in centering equity in our clinical care and research. It is no secret that Black women disproportionately experience negative maternal health outcomes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2020, the maternal mortality rate was three times higher for Black women than their white counterparts in the United States. These inequities are the result of multiple factors, many of which are systemic in nature.

To address racial inequities in maternal health for Black pregnant patients, as well as Indigenous and other pregnant patients of color, researchers are examining contributing causes to this health crisis and searching for solutions. Here are selected abstracts from the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) 2023 Annual Pregnancy Meeting, all of which are published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Research is critical to identify opportunities for clinicians, health systems, and policymakers to improve the health of Black mothers and their infants. Access all the scientific abstracts presented this year at no cost by visiting the SMFM website.

SMFM invites researchers and educators interested optimizing pregnancy outcomes for Black women to submit a proposal for the next Pregnancy Meeting, to be held February 10-14, 2024, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. Visit the SMFM website and submit your proposal by Monday, May 15, 2023.

Dr. Marta Perez is a member of the SMFM Communications Committee and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. Before fellowship, she worked as an OBGYN Hospitalist in St. Louis. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter.

Previous
Previous

Becoming an OBGYN During the Post-Dobbs Era

Next
Next

Welcome to SMFM’s New Advocacy Hub