Black and Hispanic women in Montgomery County are significantly more likely to have complications during pregnancy than white and Asian women, according to a new report that examined maternal health trends in the county over 10 years.
The report from the county’s Department of Health and Human Services found women in Montgomery are generally healthier than those in poorer areas in the state and nation.
The county’s health officer, Travis Gayles, said he hopes the new findings will dispel the myth that “everything is perfect in Montgomery County” compared to less affluent areas in Maryland.
Among the findings:
– The infant mortality rate fell from 9.2 deaths per 1,000 births to 6.5 for black babies between 2013 and 2017. The rate for white babies remained relatively constant during this period, fluctuating between 2.2 and 3.5. The national infant mortality rate in 2016 was 11.4 for blacks, 5.0 for Hispanics, 4.9 for whites and 3.6 for Asians, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate is based on the number of babies who die before age 1.
– The county’s fetal death rate rose from 4.3 per 1,000 births in 2010 to 5.0 in 2017. Among black mothers, the average rate was 9.2 per 1,000 between 2013 and 2017, compared to 4.9 for Hispanics, 4.1 for whites and 3.3 for Asians.
– Just over half of all Hispanic women who had children between 2013 and 2017 were unmarried. This compares to 40.9 percent for black women, 9.7 percent for white women and 6 percent for Asian women. Unmarried women are at a greater risk for having children with lower weight and premature birth due to increased stress and limited access to prenatal care, according to the report.
Gayles said he is concerned about the racial and ethnic disparities and said factors beyond socioeconomic status come into play in maternal health.
“We know there are significant areas of the county that don’t enjoy those high performance outcomes and so we use the data to determine what those areas of need are,” Gayles said.
In 2018, Montgomery County began participating in the state Babies Born Healthy initiative — a grant program working to reduce Maryland’s infant mortality rate by 10 percent and by 59 percent among blacks by 2020.
Previously, Baltimore, Wicomico, Charles and Prince George’s counties and Baltimore City had received funding. Montgomery County began receiving $200,000 annually starting in fiscal 2018, and will continue to receive that amount through fiscal 2021, according to health department spokeswoman Mary Anderson.
Gayles said additional money from the Babies Born Healthy program has helped fund a full-time maternal and child health coordinator.
The county also has hired a full-time community service adviser to look at ways to better target services to pregnant women in the Colesville and Hillandale areas in eastern Montgomery, where a higher percentage of black women receiving Medicaid live.
Medicaid is a joint state and federal program that offers health benefits to low-income Americans.
“Is it a question of access to care? Is it a question of environmental factors? Are people not getting the right kind of care?” he said.
Gayles said the county’s health department is exploring the multiple factors behind the differences in mother and baby health. He said trends at the national level indicate that women with college degrees who have health insurance are still having poor outcomes during pregnancy.
“When we talk about maternal mortality and morbidity, it’s unlike a lot of other health outcomes… where if you control for socioeconomic factors the disparity still exists,” he said. “What we’re hoping to do is figure out whether there are other factors besides age and race that could identify women who are [at-risk].”
The report, published last week, comes as the state legislature is considering boosting funding for several mother-infant health programs.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
