by Jeroslyn JoVonn
December 3, 2024
Researchers look into why Black women are 25% more likely to undergo an unnecessary C-section.
Recent research shows that pregnant Black women are 25% more likely to undergo an unnecessary C-section compared to white women, and researchers are investigating the reasons behind this disparity.
While cesarean sections (C-sections) are the most common surgical procedure in U.S. hospitals, a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Black women are nearly 25% more likely than white women to undergo unnecessary C-sections, increasing their risk of surgical complications. On Nov. 30, John Yang of PBS News spoke with New York Times investigative reporter Sarah Kliff to dig into the findings and learn why Black women are more likely to receive the medical procedure.
Yang noted Kliff’s hypothetical example of a Black mother and white mother walking into the same hospital with the same medical history and doctor, but only the Black woman has a 20% higher chance of delivering her baby via C-section.
“Which really begs the question, you know, why is this happening?” Kliff asks, which prompted Yang to ask for a definitive answer.
“There’s not one answer, “Kliff said. “There are some theories, and we can’t exactly get inside the doctor’s heads.”
Among the theories includes doctors possibly trying to combat the higher rates of maternal mortality among Black women by getting them into surgery faster to avoid complications. Another theory is that they’re ignoring Black women’s pushback against C-section.
“It`s difficult to tell. But we definitely know that something different is happening for these Black women,” Kliff notes.
While there are medical reasons why a doctor would schedule a C-section that brings on its own set of benefits for the patient, unscheduled C-sections come with added risks for the patient.
“It’s pretty much the risk of adding a major surgery onto the delivery,” Kliff said. “C-section is a major abdominal surgery. There’s the risk of an infection, of a hemorrhage. There are rare risks, but they are added on.”
Kliff continued. “When you do a C-section. There is the increased recovery, which is happening when you have a newborn, which, as any parent knows, is a really challenging time already to have a major surgery you’re recovering from. There are also financial risks. C-sections are more expensive, so the patient could end up with higher bills from their delivery if that is how they end up delivering.”
As for the correlation, researchers found that hospitals that were less busy and had empty operating rooms were the times when Black mothers were more likely to give birth via an unnecessary C-section versus busier hospitals where only Black and white women in need of a C-section are getting them at identical rates.
The study suggests that medical records aren’t the only thing that impacts the type of care someone gets, particularly for pregnant women. Other factors include your race and whether a hospital is busy or has an empty operating room that they want to fill.
“It’s not just about what we need, but all these other factors that are completely out of our control are contributing to the care that we get,” Kliff said.
RELATED CONTENT: Mom Returns Home After Receiving Heart Transplant Year After Delivering Son
