People, Not Patients: An Analytical Critique of the Medical Approach to Racial Disparities in Premature Birth and Birthweight in the United States

Abstract

This thesis unpacks the underlying causes of the racial disparity in premature birth and birthweight in the United States, specifically that African American women are 2.5 times more likely than white women to experience preterm birth (PTB) or deliver low birthweight (LBW) infants. Despite industrialization and medicalization in the U.S., these poor birth outcomes remain the leading cause of infant mortality in the U.S. and result in developmental health challenges for children if they live past 1 years old. This thesis argues that by medicalizing childbirth to improve birth outcomes, public health and medical domains overlook non-medical factors that contribute to these disparities. Through an analysis of interviews, biopolitical projects, healthcare coverage, privatized medicine, medical journals, public assistance policies, racial pseudoscience, and public health rhetorical strategies, this thesis demonstrates that the reproductive autonomy of poor women and women of color has been jeopardized and abused both historically and contemporaneously. The medical approach to alleviating the disparity reduces a sociopolitical issue stemming from structural discrimination to a medical condition, which limits the imagined methods of interventions and solutions.