Nevada Assemblywoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong, D-Las Vegas, has experienced childbirth in both the United States and Germany.

During both of her Germany deliveries, she was allowed to stay at the hospital for five days afterwards and was given “full midwifery services,” she said.

The process was drastically different stateside, where her son suffered from hypothermia, requiring six days of treatment with a heat lamp, she said.

“They actually wanted me to leave after the second day and I had to act a fool just a little ... had to cut up a little bit, to get them to let me stay in the hospital,” Summers-Armstrong said. “But for the other four days, I had to (drive) over here, come home, and then go to the hospital across town every day and visit my child and stay with him in the hospital all day.”

She was speaking April 17 in Las Vegas during a panel discussion hosted by President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign as part of Black Maternal Health Week.

The maternal death rate for Black women is more than double than of white or Latino women, according to data from Babyscripts, a company offering virtual maternity care.

There were 44 deaths of mothers per 100,000 live births for Black Americans compared with 17.9 for white and 12.6 for Latina counterparts in 2023, the group said. The data represents deaths through 42 days postpartum, it said.

The reason for the high mortality rate among Black mothers, according to the panelists, is a lack of health care access, systemic and structural racism, and underlying medical conditions. Several panelists also stated that Black women experience a higher rate of medical gaslighting and neglect.

Some, like Summers-Armstrong, have experienced it themselves.

The panelist expressed concern about the problem worsening if former President Donald Trump were to win reelection in November. That’s because many uninsured residents rely on the Affordable Care Act for coverage during pregnancy, and Trump during his four years in office tried to get rid of the Obama-era law giving millions of Americans access to health insurance.

“What I want to make the point on right now is the Biden-Harris administration’s work, because in the first two years of Trump becoming president, 300,000 Black Americans lost their health care insurance,” says Tanya Flanagan, a health care advocate who was the moderator of the panel. “And we were one vote away from losing the Affordable Care Act.”

Nevada addressed the issue during the 2024 legislative session. Senate Bill 232 was signed into law extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months and providing physical and mental health screenings as part of the postpartum coverage.

RACIAL BIAS IN HEALTH CARE

Dr. Marguerite Brathwaite, an OB-GYN who practices at Innovative Women’s Care on West Sahara Avenue, says 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Some doctors, she says, have an unconscious bias toward their Black female patients that often prevents those patients from getting the treatment they need.

“People don’t really understand that they act upon those things when they encounter people,” Brathwaite stressed.

This bias can manifest in the form of doctors not paying attention to their Black patient’s pain level, which Shenakwa Hawkins—a family nurse practitioner at Care With Purpose Medical Center—attributes to a widespread issue in the past where people would incorrectly assume that dark skin is thicker and the person under that skin cannot feel pain.

The panel suggested more cultural competence and diversity among doctors, as well as more diversity training at hospitals. Brathwaite encourages voters to “support an administration that’s going to support you,” she said in support of Biden’s reelection campaign.

Summers-Armstrong says Black patients often have better outcomes when working with Black doctors and nurses who can understand their experiences better. Several panelists also encourage patients to advocate for themselves when speaking to doctors.

“I’m a three-time breast cancer survivor and I say to women, no one knows your body more than you do,” Flanagan said. “You are more in touch with how you’re feeling and what you’re experiencing than anyone.”

Brathwaite additionally said Black maternal mortality is influenced by underlying medical conditions such as postpartum preeclampsia, hypertension, diabetes, pulmonary embolism and excessive blood loss.

Many health conditions, including some of those affecting pregnancy, can be influenced by a lack of access to nutrition.

Summers-Armstrong describes her Assembly district near the Historic Westside neighborhood of Las Vegas as a food desert, which is defined as a neighborhood where residents have to travel a mile or further to the nearest full-service grocery store. She said her district has been disproportionately affected by the urban heat island effect, smog and an excessive number of fast food locations.

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