Eliminating Black maternal and infant mortality: A case study of an innovative community-based public health equity intervention model in Columbus, Ohio, 2018-2021
- WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Dorian L. Wingard (Creator)
- Institution
- Western Carolina University (WCU )
- Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
- Advisor
- Kofi Lomotey
Abstract: Columbus, Ohio, has been documented as having one of the highest Black maternal and infant mortality rates in the United States. A survey of data of the past three decades shows that Black families in Columbus, Ohio, have fared exponentially worse than White families with respect to maternal mortality, maternal comorbidity, maternal surgical delivery and induction, infant mortality, infant neonatal intensive care unit assignment, infant preterm birth, and low birth weight. While the reasons for the disparities vary by source and period of inquiry, the consistent fact is that the disproportionate impact of maternal and infant mortality in Black communities has severely impacted our families in the U.S. for generations. This history is directly linked to the chattel industry of enslavement specific to the U.S., where the industrialization, commoditization, moral validation, and transactional nature of the Black birthing process guided by obstetric racism were perfected. I conducted a case study of Restoring Our Own Through Transformation (ROOTT) and its community-based intervention and outcomes in Columbus, Ohio, from 2018 to 2021. The case study focused directly on the elimination of Black maternal mortality, Black infant mortality, and significant reductions in postpartum events. The case study details the failure of the City of Columbus’s efforts to address this epidemic, contrasted against the effectiveness of ROOT’s perinatal support doula model of care, which has produced very different outcomes. ROOTT has achieved and maintained a 0% Black maternal and infant mortality rate since 2017. I offer recommendations for improvement in terms of what types of interventions should be considered when responding to public health crises related to perinatal care and how such interventions should be applied to address the identified problem of practice.
Eliminating Black maternal and infant mortality: A case study of an innovative community-based public health equity intervention model in Columbus, Ohio, 2018-2021
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Created on 4/1/2024
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Other
- Language: English
- Date: 2024
- Keywords
- Black Family Health, Black Infant Health, Black Infant Mortality, Black Maternal Health, Black Maternal Mortality, ROOTT
- Subjects
- Infants--Mortality
- Mothers--Mortality
- Women, Black
- Children, Black
- Families, Black
- Families--Health and hygiene