Date: July 12, 2022
Being pregnant in rural America means facing interconnected challenges: a greater risk of pregnancy related complications or death and declining access to maternity care during pregnancy and childbirth. Rural residents who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) experience even poorer pregnancy-related health outcomes. Racial disparities in rural maternal and infant health outcomes may be related to limited accessibility of clinical care and pregnancy/postnatal support programs and services in rural communities. This policy brief describes these differences between majority-BIPOC versus majority-white rural counties’ available maternal and infant health evidence-based supports.
Contact Information:
Katy Kozhimannil, PhD, MPA
University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
Phone: 612-626-3812
kbk@umn.edu
Additional Resources of Interest:
- More information about the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
- More information from the Rural Health Information Hub’s topic guides: Healthcare Access in Rural Communities, Rural Hospitals, Rural Health Disparities, Social Determinants of Health for Rural People