Health Disadvantages Of Poor Women And Their Babies

If a family loses a family member due to inadequate health care, an unsafe abortion, it can affect the family’s financial stability if she was a breadwinner, if there is no one else to care for children, and/or if the family is burdened with health care or funeral costs (Harman, 2016, p.526). If the lack of family planning options, such as birth control, results in more children than a family can support, not only do their finances suffer, but their overall socio-economic status, including nutrition, education, and health declines (Guttmacher, 2012).

The first problem that needs to be addressed is simply the lack of access for women in vulnerable populations to prenatal care. This is a major problem because we see that the rate of women who

Major disparities continue to exist in spite of America’s “Affordable Care Act”, Although minorities suffer disease five times greater than the rest of the nation, minorities represent the majority of the disparity. Infant Mortality has always been America’s indicator as to the state of the countries health status. America is one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations in the world, However, America ranks number 24th in the world for infant mortality. Puerto Rican and Indian women rank highest among ethnic classes with low infant mortality rates. Some researchers have found lack of prenatal access as the key contributing factor to low mortality and birth weights among these two ethnic classes.

Death and illnesses among women, infant, and child are preventable. In pregnancy, existing health risks can distinguish or prevent any future health problems for women and their children. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2016), some high-risk factors that may consider are the following: hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, depression, genetic conditions, sexually transmitted diseases, tobacco and alcohol abuse, inadequate nutrition and unhealthy weight. By having this government Healthy 2020 initiative, factors that can affect the pregnancy and childbirth such as poverty,

How socio-economic disadvantaged moms, results in their inability to good communication and less support systems in their environment, therefore reducing access to prenatal health care. Low education levels creates a barrier to accessibility of prenatal information and education, therefore, hampering mother's knowledge for good prenatal care.

In this project women of childbearing age was largely the population of focus, with many social determinants of the health that made this already vulnerable population even more in need of assistance concerning possible Zika outbreaks, prenatal education, and family planning services. Social determinants of health may include a variety of non-medical variables such as socioeconomic status, education attainment, neighborhood factors, racial discrimination, access to resources, working environment, etc. (Braveman, Egerter, & Williams, 2011; Mendez, Hogan, & Culhane, 2013). Women of childbearing age in relation to Zika virus exposure risk may encounter institutionalized racism and various upstream determinants of health that may negatively impact their ability to obtain healthcare coverage, educational resources, and family planning services. The political trends in Texas towards defunding Planned Parenthood and not expanding Medicaid services has placed an enormous burden on the women of Texas who wish to plan or prevent pregnancy but do not have the financial means to do so (Darney, et al., 2017). In the wake of a possible endemic disease, such as Zika virus, the most vulnerable will be the most susceptible.

Also, for reasons that are still being investigated in public health, poorer pregnant women are much more likely to be diagnosed with labor-inducing bacterial infections such as bacterial vaginosis or chorioamnionitis (inflammation of the fetal membrane) (Allsworth & Peipert, 2007; Dammann, Leviton, & Allred, 2000). In a study sample of over 3,700 women who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis was higher in pregnant women who were living at (34%) or below (37%) the federal poverty level compared to those who were living above it (24%) (Allsworth & Peipert, 2007). Additionally, pregnant women in lower SES communities have been found to suffer from more chronic healthcare care conditions such as hypertension and diabetes which are highly associated with preterm birth and small gestational size (Nagahawatte & Goldenberg,

Watson and Mason’s article, “Power of the first Hour” and Risworth, et al.’s article “I was on the way to the Hospital but I Delivered in the Bush” both focus on aspects of maternal and infant care and demonstrate the fundamental differences between western policies enacted to improve women’s lives in developing countries and the local realty in those developing countries.

As discussed previously women tend to have lower incomes then men this leads to higher levels of poverty in women. In the U.S 56% of people living in poverty are women, globally that percentage jumps to 70%. Not surprisingly women responsible for children are the largest group of people living in poverty. The combination of financial insecurity, heavy workloads with minimal pay and the emotional responsibility of caring for children can exact a heavy toll on women’s emotional health. Poverty also has an effect on a women’s physical health. Adverse health outcomes are two times higher amongst people in disadvantaged social position compared to those in advantaged social position. With a lack of access to proper housing and nutrition many women living in poverty experience distressing medical conditions and have no access to proper medical care. These issues can lead to adverse effects on mental health and psychological disorders (Astbury,

The article makes a claim that the circumstances in which children are born in have a determination on their health development as they grow from adolescence to adulthood. Children’s health can be affected by pre-and postnatal affects such as parents living in poverty, abuse and neglect, alcohol or drug abuse, and even homelessness during the pregnancy period (Moore, McDonald, Carlon, & O’Rourke, 2015). I believe this claim because many people who grow up in low income backgrounds cannot get the necessary education, insurance, or proper care due to their parents being unemployed, making minimum wage, or having to live from paycheck to paycheck.

In 2013, 289 000 women died during pregnancy and childbirth and it was estimated that everyday 800 women all over the world died from childbirth or childbirth-related problems (World Health Organization, 2014). Often, maternal mortality is found to occur more often in developing countries than developed countries. Maternal mortality refers women who died from the situation like during pregnancy, termination of pregnancy within 42 days, regardless of duration and place of pregnancy, from aggravation caused by the pregnancy or pregnancy management (Nwagha et al, 2010). Maternal mortality may be resulted from direct or indirect cause. Direct causes are from obstetric complications of pregnancy, labour, and puerperium, and interventions whereas indirect causes are from the worsening of current conditions by pregnancy or delivery (Givewell, 2009). This paper aims to examine the causes for maternal mortality in both developed and developing countries and will end with a proposal for government to ensure women are given reproductive health rights.

“High rates of child poverty are a cause for concern, as low family income has been associated with a range of negative health, education, justice, labour market and social outcomes. Negative health outcomes include low birth weight, infant mortality, poorer mental health and cognitive development, and hospital admissions from a variety of causes” (Craig, Reddington, Wicken, Oben & Simpson, 2013, pg. 24).

Poverty can lead to serious effects. Children who grow up in poverty are likely to have frequent health problems than the children who grow in better financial circumstances. For example, infants who are born into poverty have a low birth weight, and they grow up with mental or physical disabilities. Not only are they sick, but they are most likely to die before their first birthday. Children who are raised in poverty might miss school often because of their illnesses, and they have a much higher accident rate than the other children. Nearly a billion of the world’s population can’t read nor write. Poor families experience stress much more than a normal family does. They are more likely to be exposed to negative events such as illness, job loss, death of a family member, and depression. Homelessness is another effect of poverty. Homeless children are less likely to receive proper nutrition, protection and they experience more health problems. Around 1.4 million children die each year from lack of access to safe and clean water and proper nutrition. Homeless women experience a high rate of low birth weight infants as well as miscarriages. Families who do not have homes receive much more stress than other families. They also have disruption in school, work, friendships, and family relationships. There are other effects of poverty such as drug abuse and addiction, child and woman abuse, debts pressure, and increase in crimes.

Worldwide, approximately 1.3 billion people do not have access to affordable and efficient healthcare and out of those who have access, almost 170 million are forced to spend around 40 % of their income on medical treatment (Asante et al,2016).In low and middle income countries (LMICs), the major constraint to the access of healthcare is financial burden, where out-of-pocket payments (OPP) contribute to approximately 50 % of total health expenditure (WHO, 2010). As a result, in these countries there is high probability of many households being pushed into poverty due to high medical expenses (McIntyre,2006).The matter of concern in LMICS is that poor and disadvantaged groups of population do not have access to adequate quality of healthcare.For instance, according to WHO (2010) up to 20 % of women in rich population are more likely to have a birth attended by skilled health worker than a poor woman. Therefore, taking an action to address health inequities faced in these countries would save up to 700,000 women.

One of the key learning from this topic is the relation between financial independence/education and women’s sexual and reproductive health. And the way social, economic, demographic, and community characteristics affect women’s ability to acquire information, and their ability to act and decide on their reproductive health and their overall health. I gained important understanding on social determinants of women’s health that is related to gender norms, that places women as inferior in many part of the world leading to health, social, and economic issues that men do not face. Coming from developing country the impact of social determinants on women’s health is a big issue, and understanding the disparities that even exist in developed countries from this course opened, my eyes on how disadvantaged women are worldwide economically and socially.