Detroit came in last in a ranking of cities for premature births in an annual “report card” by the March of Dimes. The maternal and infant health-focused nonprofit organization found that babies in the city were more likely to be born prematurely than any other city in the country’s top 100 by birth rate last year.
16.6% of babies — about 1 in 6 — born in Detroit were born before 37 weeks of gestation, the threshold of what is considered “premature.” That compares to about 10.7% across Michigan and 10.4% across the country as a whole.
Premature births are associated with developmental delays, respiratory issues, vision and hearing impairment, as well as a higher likelihood of death within the first year of life.
Various maternal health issues contribute to the likelihood that a baby will be born prematurely, including high blood pressure, shorter intervals between pregnancies, and tobacco use. But the kind of medical care a pregnant person receives is also a factor, said Dr. Michael Warren, a pediatrician and the chief medical and health officer with the March of Dimes.
“Many people of color in this country have experienced and continue to experience racism and discrimination and bias across many systems, including the health care system,” Warren said. “Those experiences can lead to worse outcomes.”
Preterm births are most prevalent for Black infants, followed by Native Americans. Many of the cities which received “F” grades along with Detroit have significant Black populations.
There are a lot of personal, environmental, and social issues that lead to complications for mothers and infants, said Tamika Jackson of Mothering Justice, a Detroit-based advocacy organization for mothers and infants.
“I think that we don't take into account economic [factors], and how that stress really leans into [complications during pregnancy],” she said. And for mothers, “it's also the experience of going into the hospital and really feeling like they're on a conveyor belt.”
Jackson said many of the mothers she’s spoken to didn’t feel that the medical practitioners who saw them had their best interests at heart.
“A lot of what I hear from the moms is, ‘I knew something was wrong, but they wouldn't listen,’” she said.
That was the case for Jackson herself, who testified to the Michigan Senate in March about a doctor who inserted an epidural in the wrong vertebrae of her spine, causing her to lose consciousness while in labor.
In January, a group of Democratic state senators — all of them women of color — reintroduced a package of bills aimed at addressing inequities in maternal and infant care, including programs including expanding Medicaid to midwives and creating a system to report discriminatory experiences in medical settings.
“Giving birth is an intensely vulnerable yet incredibly special experience, and every mother deserves access to quality health care that respects their wishes,” Senator Sylvia Santana of Detroit said in a statement about the reintroduction of the so-called “Momnibus” bills. “Unfortunately, for far too long, Black mothers have faced inequities in care and a lack of respect for their choices. It’s time we ensure all mothers have the ability to make their own decisions about their own care.”
