Associations Among Racial Discrimination, Perceived Stress, and Birth Satisfaction in Black Women in the Postpartum Period.
Amanda de la Serna, Rui Xie, Jean W Davis and 3 others
PMID 39343417WHAT IT FOUND
Postpartum Black women who reported more lifetime racial discrimination also reported more stress, and those with more stress reported lower birth satisfaction.
Discrimination itself was not linked to birth satisfaction.
Key findings
01Women who reported more lifetime racial discrimination also reported higher perceived stress in the past month.
02Higher perceived stress was associated with lower birth satisfaction, including lower scores on the women's personal attributes subscale.
03Lifetime racial discrimination was not significantly associated with birth satisfaction, and perceived stress did not support the tested mediation model.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a secondary analysis, so the researchers could only use data collected in the original study. Data came from one hospital in a large metropolitan area, and most participants were single, employed or on maternity leave, and had some college education or higher. The sample may not represent Black childbearing women in the United States. Answers came from self-report questionnaires, which can be biased. Participants were recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have affected enrollment and stress. The racial discrimination measure asked about lifetime experiences, so it may not capture discrimination related to birth. The study did not separate scheduled and emergency cesarean births. The study did not test an intervention, so it cannot show what would improve birth satisfaction.
Declared interests
No author conflict-of-interest declaration is given in the supplied text. The paper is listed as supported by Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that racial discrimination caused lower birth satisfaction or that reducing perceived stress will improve birth satisfaction. The study found no significant association between racial discrimination and birth satisfaction, and it did not test an intervention.