WED-041 - Insights for Advancing Maternal Health: The Voices of Trentonian Black Moms

Brief Abstract Summary: Discover how Black mothers in Trenton, NJ, experience maternal health through the lens of community care spaces, support systems, and racially concordant care. Learn how qualitative, community-based participatory research revealed gaps in maternal health education, “race-evasive” healthcare practices, and the importance of trusted safe havens. Gain insights into how authentic community engagement and workforce cultural humility and implicit bias training can strengthen health-promoting ecosystems and reduce maternal health inequities.

Detailed abstract description:

Introduction: Black women are at high risk of pregnancy-related complications, including death. They are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than their White counterparts. In Trenton, NJ, Black mothers continue to face disproportionate maternal health, illuminating inequities rooted in social context, structural racism, and the social determinants of health. While we acknowledge current state-level efforts, such as Nurture New Jersey, to forge a pathway to equitable healthcare provision, the voices of mothers themselves have often been absent from health system infrastructure and community support planning. We will share preliminary findings from a qualitative, community-based participatory study examining the lived experiences of Black mothers, with a focus on community facilitators and opportunities to improve maternal health outcomes.

Methods: After facilitating a brief environmental scan with community stakeholders, we used focus groups, fieldnotes, and secondary reports to implement a thematic approach to analyze these women’s accounts.

Results: Emanating from three in-person and one Zoom focus groups, four central themes emerged: (1) Community care spaces or safe havens as health infrastructure, identities such as schools, churches, and trusted health centers were vital for addressing physical, emotional, and social needs; (2) Lack of Maternal Health Information/Education, mothers identified areas where healthcare systems and practitioners could situate themselves to help improve the mothers’ knowledge of their conditions, diagnoses, and postpartum care;(3) Poor Quality Healthcare, participants described “race-evasive health” where they felt the healthcare system often denies, diminishes, or downplays their concerns contributing to healthcare system mistrust and leading to a desire for diversity in workforce and racially concordant patient/provider relationships; (4) Support systems as determinants of maternal outcomes, doulas, families, and community organizations provided critical support, while their absence increases harm.

Conclusions: Conclusions reiterate that maternal health equity cannot be achieved by clinical impacts alone, but in tandem with other community-based systems. Currently, the healthcare workforce statistics does not have the ability to provide patient-provider concordant encounters for all patients. However, evidence highlights that in clinical spaces, racially concordant care may improve communication, trust, adherence, and patient satisfaction, particularly for Black women. In this session, conference attendees will reimagine how healthcare systems and community-based organizations can become community care spaces or safe havens. These spaces not only address physical needs but emphasize integrative health practices while acknowledging Black mothers’ multidimensional needs (e.g. emotional, social, and cultural support).