More than 39% of Black children in Missouri are impoverished, which leads to more health problems and lack of healthcare access, according to a study by the United Health Foundation.
The UHF Health Disparities Report, which highlights disparities in race and ethnicity, education, gender and geography shows that 39.1% of Black children here live in poverty. This is substantially higher than the 32.5% national average.
Just 14.8% of white children in Missouri live in poverty, and the rate for Black children is also higher than other ethnic groups.
“High school graduation and child poverty are big issues right now in Missouri, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
“When these issues are addressed, it will improve the health of the community as well as drive the economy.”
“A national goal should be to make sure everyone has affordable health insurance.” – Dr. Georges Benjamin, American Public Health Association executive director
Benjamin said those social determinants give insight into what needs to be fixed to improve overall community health.
“Aside from this, we now know that tragically during COVID-19, lots of people lost their lives, and it was disproportionately African American women,” Benjamin said.
The report demonstrated persistent and growing disparities in maternal mortality. In 2015-2019, Black mothers (43.8 deaths per 100,000 live births) had a maternal mortality rate that was 3.4 times higher than Hispanic mothers (12.7 deaths per 100,000 live births).
“This is one of the national tragedies we continue to see growth in, African American mothers in particular are dying either in or shortly after pregnancy,” Benjamin said.
Between 2005-2009 and 2015-2019, maternal mortality rates increased 22% among Black mothers, from 35.8 to 43.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the United Health Foundation report.
“The exact root cause for this is currently unclear, but causes for the maternal mortality lie in post-partum hemorrhages and post-partum infections,” Benjamin said.
“There is a national effort to try to better understand why it happens,” Benjamin said. “I can tell you that stress plays a role in this, particularly with eclampsia and pre-eclampsia.”
Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system. Eclampsia is a severe complication of preeclampsia. It’s a rare but serious condition, In which high blood pressure results in seizures during pregnancy.
“It can be devastating for both the mother and the baby; it continues to be a challenge for women of color,” Benjamin said.
According to Benjamin, all moms should have access to quality healthcare throughout their pregnancy.
“For mothers who are on Medicaid, we need to make sure that their coverage doesn’t terminate after they deliver the child so they can have the adequate postnatal care they need,” Benjamin said. “This is one of the policy solutions that’s being looked at, currently at the national level.
Other health issues discussed in the report include adequate nutrition, tobacco use reduction and substance abuse in pregnant women.
“The infant mortality rate in the Black community has been going down over the years, but the disparity has remained between African American babies and white babies.”
Socioeconomic inequality in the United States is likely a primary contributor to its higher infant mortality rate.
“In the places they have been able to address this aggressively, they make sure the parents are healthy before conception,” Benjamin said.
“Early identification of any problems and getting referred to a specialist is important especially for a high-risk birth, which can include twins.”
Benjamin said a national goal should be “to make sure everyone has affordable health insurance.”
“I think in addition to this, policy makers can look at the disparity report and evaluate what is working and what can be improved for each state, like Missouri.”
There was good news on the employment front before the pandemic struck Missouri and the nation.
There was a 40% unemployment reduction in the Black population between 2005-2009 and 2015-2019. It dropped from 13.9% to 8.3%, nationally.
“These numbers are pre-pandemic when the nation was on an upsurge,” Benjamin said.
“There was the Obama economy where we saw a financial increase in the nation’s prosperity, which continued during the Trump administration.”
Other studies concluded that low levels of unemployment in the country also benefited people of color, particularly African Americans.
