Black Maternal Health Week

Public conversations about motherhood frequently assume all women have equal access to health care, bodily autonomy, financial stability, and safe pregnancies.

They do not.

When Maternal Care Ignores Disability, Black Women Pay the Highest Price

Every April, Black Maternal Health Week calls attention to one of the most urgent health equity issues in the United States: Black women face significantly higher risks during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period than white women. But within this conversation, one group is too often overlooked—Black women living with disabilities, including brain injury survivors.

As explored in our recent discussion of how society often erases the complexity of women’s reproductive choices, public conversations about motherhood frequently assume all women have equal access to health care, bodily autonomy, financial stability, and safe pregnancies.

They do not.

For Black women, maternal health outcomes remain deeply unequal. According to the CDC, Black women in the United States are around three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. These disparities are not explained by income or education alone. They are tied to systemic barriers, bias in health care, unequal treatment, stress, and lack of access to quality care.

Now add disability to that equation.

Women with disabilities often face inaccessible clinics, providers who are unfamiliar with their needs, transportation barriers, and assumptions that they should not become parents at all. For women living with a traumatic brain injury, stroke, concussion history, epilepsy, or other neurological conditions, pregnancy care may require coordination across multiple specialists. Too often, that care is fragmented or unavailable.

Black women with brain injuries may face a compounded burden: racial bias, gender bias, and disability bias at the same time.

This matters in Arizona, where many communities already struggle with provider shortages, transportation challenges, and uneven access to maternal specialists—especially in rural and underserved areas.

Brain injury can affect memory, fatigue, balance, emotional regulation, sensory tolerance, and communication. Pregnancy and postpartum recovery can intensify these challenges. Yet many survivors report that providers focus only on pregnancy while overlooking the realities of living with a neurological condition.

Black Maternal Health Week reminds us that improving outcomes means seeing the whole person.

That includes:

• Listening to Black women when they report pain, symptoms, or concerns
• Ensuring clinics and hospitals are physically accessible
• Coordinating care for patients with brain injuries and neurological disabilities
• Expanding postpartum mental health and rehabilitation support
• Addressing transportation and rural access barriers in Arizona
• Respecting every woman’s reproductive choices without judgment

At the Brain Injury Association of Arizona, we know that brain injury does not erase a person’s right to dignity, parenthood, or quality health care. Nor should race determine whether someone survives pregnancy or is heard in a medical setting.

Black women deserve maternal care that is safe, respectful, informed, and accessible. Survivors with brain injuries deserve providers who understand both pregnancy and disability. And every family deserves systems built around support—not bias.

This Black Maternal Health Week, let’s broaden the conversation. Maternal health equity must include disability equity, brain injury awareness, and racial justice.

If you or a loved one are navigating life after brain injury and need support, contact the Brain Injury Association of Arizona at info@biaaz.org, call the Helpline at (888) 500-9165, or visit https://biaaz.org to access resources, support, and guidance. No one should face workplace violence alone.

ABOUT BRAIN INJURY ASSOCIATION OF ARIZONA

The Brain Injury Association of Arizona (BIAAZ) is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults and children with all types of brain injuries through prevention, advocacy, awareness and education. BIAAZ also houses the Arizona Brain Health Resource Center, a collection of educational information and neuro-specific resources for brain injury survivors, caregivers, family members and professionals.

What began in 1983 as a grassroots effort has grown into a strong statewide presence, providing valuable life-long resources and community support for individuals with all types of brain trauma at no charge.