Alyssah Hall
Black Women Organized for Political Action, Training Institute for Leadership Enrichment (BWOPA-TILE) and Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) joined forces on April 17 and hosted a virtual briefing event on their newly released 2025 Health Report examining maternal health equity for Black women and Latinas in California.
April is National Minority Health Month and April 11-17 is Black Maternal Health Week. In honor of both awareness campaigns, HOPE and BWOPA held a “call to action” to discuss the 2025 California Equity in Maternal Health Report which centers the voices of over 800 Black women and Latinas across California on the disparities they have faced in their maternal health journey.
The study focused on issues related to childbearing, maternal health and approaches to making a more equitable birthing system in California. This included two online focus groups, one among Black women and another among Latinas who had given birth or were pregnant during the study. These focus groups were conducted on women between the ages of 18-49 from September 19 to September 24 of 2024 by Evitarus, a public opinion research and strategic consulting firm. The project is also supported by Kaiser Permanente.
This report piggybacks on work that started in 2022, when HOPE and BWOPA jointly investigated mental health equity for Black and Latina women in order to improve their experiences. Together, Black and Latina women face some of the most extreme maternal health disparities in the state and nation. Although many studies have looked at maternal health disparities, few have examined the unique and overlapping challenges Black women and Latinas face side by side.
“The issue is deeply [and] personal to our communities, and we are proud to be here with our partners, the BWOPA-TILE and Evitarus, to unveil research that shines a light on the experiences of Latinas and Black women across California. We hope today’s discussion will help spark the kind of policy changes that ensures that every woman, every mother, receives the care and dignity she deserves,” said Xiomara Peña, vice president of Community Engagement and Innovation at HOPE.
The informative virtual event opened with remarks from the organization’s principles, Helen Iris Torres, chief executive officer of HOPE, and LaNiece Jones, state executive director of BWOPA-TILE. Next, there was a presentation delivered by the lead researchers behind the report, and shared insights from maternal health practitioners who served as advisors on the project.
“Latinas and Black women continue to face disparities in their experiences with the healthcare system, disparities that are often shaped by structural inequalities, lack of access and systematic biases or discrimination. These aren’t just policy issues, they’re personally affecting families across California every single day,” Torres said.
“At BWOPA, we believe that political power and public policy must be shaped by those most affected. Today’s briefing is not just about the data, it’s about the lives, voices and leadership of women committed to dismantling disparities in maternal health care. Together we are holding systems accountable and pushing for care, dignity and justice that our communities deserve,” Jones said.
The research team involved with the report shared that the role of social determinants like poverty, insurance coverage and environmental factors disproportionately and negatively impacts Black women and Latinas. Both groups face high risks during and after child bearing, such as higher death rates, a risk that is especially high in Black women.
“In 2022, the national [maternal] mortality rate rose to 19 maternal deaths per[100,000] live births, and this rate was 50 deaths for Black women, 17 deaths for Latinas, and 19 deaths for non Hispanic, white women. Also, Black women and Latinas face a greater risk of complications during childbirth, ranging from a variety of different indices of preeclampsia and hypertension, among others,” said Dr. Angela X. Ocampo, senior consultant at Evitarus.
“It is the case as well, that the risk of postpartum depression is 80% greater for Black women and 40% greater for Latinas,” Ocampo said.
Inequities in maternal health for Black women and Latinas is not new. Ocampo mentioned that most of the foundational work in medicine, in obstetrics and gynecology, was involuntarily built on the experiences of enslaved Black women. Ocampo also noted that back to at least 1907, eugenics, sports and other state-sanctioned programs disproportionately and explicitly targeted Latinas. They also targeted Black women.
“Most recently, we have also seen formal complaints against Immigration Customs Enforcement detention centers for denial of medical care and potentially forcing hysterectomies upon Latina immigrants,” Ocampo shared.
There is a need for holistic care and expanded access to alternative maternal health services in the research findings. Over three quarters of women in the report support expanding access to doula and midwife services and information about healthy and nutritious foods.
“Respondents also emphasized the need for comprehensive economic support, with 74% identifying expanded access to paid family leave as an extremely high priority. Many also cited time off work, child care assistance, food and or financial assistance and stable housing as critical to positive health, pregnancy experiences,” said Dr. Shakari Byerly, managing partner and director of Polling and Research at Evitarus.
“A solid majority support increasing the number of Black and Hispanic women in birth and care professions. Additionally, a majority of respondents identify that respect is extremely important to provider quality,” Byerly finished.
Vital findings from the 2025 California Equity in Maternal Health Report include: One in four Black women and Latinas find it difficult to access obstetric and gynecological care, and nearly one-third report difficulty accessing routine healthcare services.
• A majority (57%) report experiencing unfair or adverse treatment during pregnancy or birth, yet nearly 60% do not know how to file a complaint when discrimination occurs.
• Confidence in California’s birthing health systems is alarmingly low: 60% of respondents either don’t know how often they can trust the system, say it can “never” be trusted, or only trust it “some of the time.”
• Economic insecurity and health concerns weigh heavily in decisions about childbearing, with 74% citing these factors as part of their decision-making process.
• Depression (55%) and anxiety (43%) are common experiences during pregnancy and postpartum, yet nearly half did not receive mental health screening.
According to those surveyed, Black women and Latinas’ vision for how to move forward equity in maternal health while addressing health disparities includes investing in aid such as mental health care, nutrition counseling, and childcare. Other solutions involve expanding paid family leave and prioritizing the increase of Black and Latina maternal care providers.