Question

The number of infants who die before their first birthday is much higher in the United States than in other countries, and for African-Americans the rate is nearly twice as high as for white Americans. Even well-educated African American women have birth outcomes worse than white women who haven’t finished high school. Why?

We meet Andrea Jackson, a successful lawyer, executive, and mother. When Andrea was pregnant with her first child, she, like so many others, did her best to ensure a healthy baby; she ate right, exercised, abstained from alcohol and smoking, and received good prenatal care. Yet 2.5 months before her due date, she went into labor unexpectedly. Her newborn weighed less than 3 pounds. Andrea and her husband were devastated. How could this have happened?

We know that, in general, health follows wealth; on average, the higher on the socioeconomic ladder you are, the lower your risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, infant death, and preterm deliveries. For highly educated African American women like Andrea, the advantages of income and status do make a difference in health, but something else is still in play: racism.

There are several issues to consider about this case:

How may have Andrea’s race and culture played a role in her having a low-birth-weight baby?

Are there any culture-specific protective factors that may have helped Andrea cope with the racism she has faced?

PLEASE ANSWER WITH ABT 300-500 WORDS. THANK YOU!!!

Answer 1

One of the most important factors that determines a happy and healthy pregnancy time is the environment and family support one receives. If the environment is stressful, unhappy and unconducive, it will affect not only the mother but also the child in the womb. In America, racial discrimination and the impacts of institutionalized racism play an important role in people of color receiving important facilities such as house, medicine, employment and social status. This adversely affects the life of the people of color and force them to the edge of the social ladder.

Workplace brings more pressure on people of other races than the White people. White people enjoy an invisible benefit which the other races don’t. This invisible pressure in the name of race brings lots of discrimination in terms of salary, promotion and equal treatment. People from other races are expected to contribute more but expect less in terms of benefits. It’s not just the benefits but the verbal abuse that people from other races face from their White managers also bring a huge stress on them.

Women have to take care of both work and home and if they don’t receive any help from their partners or their parents, they might need to put more physical and mental work. This makes them more tired and mentally upset which in turn affects the wellbeing of the baby inside. The emotional blackmails, partner violence, drug usage all contribute to the miscarriages or premature birth of the baby. The racial discrimination that they undergo at work and in the society weakens them psychologically that they become emotionally unstable by diverting their anger and frustration to people who are not in any way connected to them. This unstable emotional outbursts impacts the baby directly thus affecting the regular growth of the child.

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