Women of color, those with less education and those with lower income aged 18-44 who live in Maryland are facing health disparities above the national average. That’s according to a new report from the United Health Foundation.
The organization’s report on gaps in maternal and infant health found that Maryland women with less than a high school education are 8 times more likely to be uninsured than women with a college degree. The national average is about 6 times.
Maryland also has a higher rate of infant mortality, 5.9 per 1,000 live births, than the national average of 5.5.
Severe maternal morbidity, where mothers develop health issues during or after pregnancy is also above the national average. Maryland’s rate is about 91 per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations, while the national rate is 88.3.
“Nationally, women of color have higher rates of maternal mortality that are anywhere between two and a half to four and a half times greater than other groups,” said Dr. Lisa Saul, chief medical officer for women’s health at UnitedHealthcare. “In Maryland, those trends persist. In terms of the low-birth-weight trend, we see a higher percentage of birth weight in Black American Indian and Alaskan Native women and as well as in the Asian and Pacific Islander population.”
Saul said factors like race, education and income have an impact on health disparities in Maryland.
“Women that are living in poverty aged 18-44 is up 39% compared to the prior year, and those women also have a higher severe housing cost burden, and that impacts people who have household incomes between $25,000 and just under $50,000 a year,” Saul said.
She added that social stressors such as food and housing insecurity, which often arise from poverty, can impact a birthing person's ability to properly nourish themselves, make it to prenatal appointments and that that chronic stress can lead to physical complications like hypertension and preeclampsia.
“Oftentimes, women are making the choices between feeding their children and feeding themselves,” Saul said.
There is some good news that came out of the study as well.
The number of uninsured women decreased from 11.7% to 3.8% between the period of 2010 to 2014 and 2018 to 2022.