Kentucky must implement policies addressing racial bias in medicine and increase access to doulas, who support pregnant patients. Learn more and tell your legislators to VOTE YES on the Maternal CARE Act here.
THE PROBLEM
The U.S. has the highest rate of maternal mortality among the world’s wealthiest countries. Maternal mortality rates are 3 times higher for pregnant people of color and nearly 4 times higher for pregnant African-Americans, compared to their white peers. Maternal mortality refers to the death of someone during pregnancy or up to a year after.
(See sources below)
THE SOLUTION
ACLU-KY supports legislation addressing racial bias in medicine by requiring implicit bias training for healthcare providers and allowing pregnant people to use Medicaid for doulas.
- WHAT IS IMPLICIT BIAS TRAINING? Implicit bias is an automatic and subconscious feeling or attitude about a certain group of people. It does not come from a place of negative intent, but results in unequal treatment. Implicit bias training teaches people how to identify their subconscious patterns of biased thinking and change those patterns to eliminate discriminatory behaviors.
- WHAT ARE DOULAS? Doulas inform and advocate for pregnant people before, during, and after birth. Doulas provide individualized and culturally-specific education about pregnancy and childcare, and ways to reduce stress and promote a healthy pregnancy. They visit patients at home during and after pregnancy, and are present during labor and delivery to advocate for the patient.
Check out the ACLU-KY one-pager for this issue and sources in the PDF below.
