Racism Creates Inequities in Maternal and Child Health, Even Before Birth

Equity, Report

To inform maternal and child health policy and practice, this brief applies a racial and ethnic equity lens to the review of data from the State of Babies Yearbook: 2021. Specifically, this brief aims to explore why there are disparities in maternal and child health; what disparities exist, and for whom; and how policymakers and practitioners can promote racial and ethnic equity to improve maternal and child health. We use racial and ethnic equity to refer to the process of involving those most impacted by institutional racism in the creation and implementation of policies and practices that impact their lives, and to outcomes in which race and ethnicity do not predict a person’s life course. This approach offers recommendations that are discussed in detail in the Recommendations section.