Racialized Police Use of Force and Maternal Health

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Sociology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Significant racial disparities exist in maternal health outcomes.
• These disparities persist even when accounting for socioeconomic factors like education and income.
• Community-level racial inequity in police use of force is a potential, understudied determinant of these disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between community-level racial inequity in police use of force and maternal health outcomes.
• To compare these associations for Black and White women in New Jersey.
• To explore the role of institutionalized racism in maternal health disparities.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study analyzing 326,240 birth records from New Jersey (2012-2016).
• Linked birth records with maternal hospital discharge and municipal police data.
• Assessed outcomes including substance use, mental health disorders, asthma, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, severe maternal morbidity, cardiovascular diseases, and preterm labor.

Main Results:

• For Black women, increased racial inequity in police use of force was associated with higher odds of mental health disorders (any, depression, anxiety), substance use (any, tobacco, other), asthma, and preterm labor.
• Specific associations included a 0.18% increase in any mental health disorder and a 0.26% increase in any substance use per 1% increase in racially-disproportionate police force.
• No robust associations were found for other outcomes in Black women or any outcomes in White women.

Conclusions:

• Racially-disproportionate police use of force is significantly associated with adverse maternal health outcomes for Black women.
• These findings suggest institutionalized racism may be a fundamental cause of racial health disparities in maternal health.
• Addressing police use of force inequities could be a critical step in improving maternal health equity.