Addressing Racial Disparities in Maternal Health Through an Anti-Racism Grand Rounds Curriculum

Black birthing people are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White birthing people. This disparity is related to racism and implicit bias. The project's goal was to evaluate the effect of a novel anti-racism curriculum on the ability of health care providers to address implicit biases.

Attendees of grand rounds education for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at one academic institution were eligible. Pre- and post-intervention surveys were conducted annually. Results were analyzed through paired t-tests.

Anti-racism curriculum participants had a statistically significant difference in their understanding of disparities and comfort speaking about instances of bias after participation. There was no significant difference in knowledge of historical context.

Although most participants had previous anti-racism training, participants lacked comfort discussing disparities with peers and those in positions of leadership prior to this curriculum, which empowered participants to address racism in actionable ways.