Notes

The first protective factor that I would suggest to Leticia in order to have a successful and healthy prenatal journey would be to join the new innovative program known as "CenteringPregnancy" (Page 84). I would suggest this to Leticia because a recent study shows that attending these sessions leads to having successful weight gain during pregnancy in order to have a healthy baby, as well as maintain a healthy lifestyle for mother's themselves during their journey in pregnancy. Not only does research show that attending the CenteringPregnancy program leads to successful weight gain during pregnancy (Trotman 2015 Page 84), but also lowers the likelihood of having your baby prematurely and reduces the chance that your baby will have a low birth weight (Page 84 Crockett & Others, 2017). The second protective factor that I would suggest to Leticia would be to exercise properly during pregnancy to likely increase the health of her future child as well as herself (Page 82). More specifically, Leticia should focus on exercising properly while pregnant, for example exercise is most practical during the first six months of pregnancy in comparison to the last three months (Page 82 Caring Connections). Leticia should begin working out while pregnant by establishing a solid and consistent exercise routine. Leticia should also know to have a five to ten minute warm-up, as well as a five to ten minute cooldown post workout, and certainly do not exercise to the point of complete exhaustion (Page 82). 

The first risk factor that I would tell Leticia about would be to be wary of most everything you put into your body during and before pregnancy, which would be considered teratogens. A teratogen is anything that will affect the fetus during pregnancy (NCBI.gov). More specifically, using any type of prescription or non-prescription drugs during pregnancy, for example: large amounts of acetaminophen (Page 88), antidepressants, or certain hormones such as synthetic estrogen (Page 88). These prescription and non-prescription drugs should not be taken during the first trimester of pregnancy according to Eltonsy & others. The second risk factor that I would inform Leticia about would be the use of alcohol during pregnancy. Consuming large amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can lead to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (Page 88 Cook & Others). These disorders come in a number of forms, such as facial deformities and heart defects (Coles & Others Page 88). Not only does consuming large amounts of alcohol whilst pregnant lead your child to possibly having deformities, but it also can lead to learning difficulties for the child and lower than average intelligence (Khoury & Milligan Page 88). Lastly, a new study that took place in the United Kingdom displayed that children born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders have on average a significantly shorter lifespan in comparison to children with FASD (Thanh & Jonsson Page 88). 

The first specific recommendation that I believe is especially important in order to address the ongoing threat to African American mothers and their infants was to identify barriers to accessing maternal mental health services (AmericanProgess.org Article Eliminating Racial Disparities Maternal Infant Mortality). Mental health is extremely important in general and is often under looked, but is even more important during pregnancy. Women of color experience discrimination in the mental health field, which can lead to African American women being negatively affected mentally, emotionally, and physically (Section 33 Article). I believe African American women's maternal mental health should be taken significantly more seriously. Sudden infant death syndrome is almost twice as high in comparison to non-hispanic white women due to the lack of facilities in lower income areas (Section 37 Article). This needs to be directly fixed in order to increase the likelihood of having a healthy mental and physical state during pregnancy, not only for the African American mother, but for the child as well. 

The second specific recommendation that I believe is important and needs to be addressed in order to decrease the ongoing threat to African American mothers and their infants is to mandate and fund fetal and infant mortality review committees (AmericanProgess.org Article Eliminating Racial Disparities Maternal Infant Mortality). Mandating and funding these infant mortality review committees is especially important and needed because African Americans have the highest infant mortality rate out of any race or group among the United States (Section 9 Article). Racism in health care and in social services leads to African American women getting lower quality maternal care in comparison to white women (Section 11 Article). This then leads to extreme psychological tolls being put onto African American women, such as: pregnancy related high blood pressure and negative mental health conditions (Section 12 Article). Clearly, fetal and infant mortality review committees are extremely important in order to understand infant mortality rates (Section 373 Article). One city's health department launched a simple public education campaign that ended up decreasing sleep based infant deaths by 71 percent (Section 374 Article). Unfortunately, currently only 28 states offer Fetal Infant Mortality programs (Section 375 Article). According to these statistics alone, it should be obvious that FIMR committees need to be more widely accessible in order to decrease the ongoing threat to African American mothers and their infants. Nobody should be subject to fear when it comes to pregnancy, and is exactly why these committees need increased funding.