Killing Fear, Birthing Black Babies: The Relationship Between Maternal Health Literacy and Desire to Have Children
Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
Spring 2024
Abstract
Childbirth has been traumatizing for Black women since stepping foot on American soil. Generations of Black women have suffered unimaginable pain and even death at the hands of irresponsible and uncaring medical professionals. This fact has left many Black women with a low desire to have children. Improving the maternal health literacy of Black women can be a solution to the hopelessness many women feel towards childbirth. Previous literature on the impacts of resources and services that improve maternal health literacy, and the barriers Black women face to accessing said resources and services validate the need for early exposure to maternal health literacy. Using a quantitative research design, surveys were utilized to find the correlation between maternal health literacy and the desire to have children for Black women aged 18 to 22 at Xavier University of Louisiana. This study aimed to provide a new perspective on the importance of exposing young Black women to maternal health literacy resources. The implications of early exposure include lower maternal mortality rates amongst Black women and an increase in safe births for Black mothers and their babies.
Recommended Citation
Wicker, Gabriella, "Killing Fear, Birthing Black Babies: The Relationship Between Maternal Health Literacy and Desire to Have Children" (2024). Student Conference Oral Presentations. 2.
https://digitalcommons.xula.edu/sw_conpres_oral/2