The Lived Experiences of Maternal Health Racism Among African American Women: A Scoping Review

The purpose of this scoping review is to consolidate existing scholarly literature on the experiences of racism in maternal health by African American women.

Maternal health disparities among African American women are linked to systemic racism and resulting in alarming rates of adverse maternal disparities.

Using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scoping review methodological approach, a literature search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar for empirical studies published between 2013 and 2023. The search was limited to the experience of racism among African American women during the perinatal period.

Ten studies describing Black/African American women's experiences with systemic, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized racism in maternal healthcare settings were identified. All studies included in the final review were qualitative. Poor provider communication and listening were highlighted as the major contributors to maternal health disparities. While mental health support, social support, and community-based interventions such as doula and midwife services have demonstrated improved outcomes, their broader impact remains understudied and unavailable to many women.

This review revealed (1) a lack of longitudinal research focused on dismantling racism at the institutional leadership level, (2) the absence of long-term evaluations of systemic interventions, and (3) a limited focus on garnering a deeper understanding of mental health impacts. By aggregating the findings from diverse studies, this review aims to contribute to future research to influence research, policy changes, and clinical practices that eliminate maternal health disparities.