Overview
Significant racial health disparities have been proven to exist in birth outcomes year after year. The data prove that racial inequities in care are harmful to patients; but what can health care professionals do to help eliminate these disparities?
ACOG is pleased to offer free online courses dedicated to race and equity in obstetrics and gynecology, historical foundations of obstetrics and gynecology, and respectful care in obstetrics and gynecology. These courses will provide a breadth of knowledge that will help clinicians more effectively offer respectful care in obstetrics, gynecology, and overall patient health. Read on to learn more about each course topic.
Race and Equity
Significant racial disparities exist in maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the United States; for example, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Understanding the foundations of race and birth equity provides fundamental preliminary knowledge to build upon in the process of understanding the need for respectful care.
Historical Foundations
Some within the fields of obstetrics and gynecology may not be familiar with some of the historical foundations of many of the field's medical and scientific developments. This history includes atrocities committed against marginalized populations. Understanding the history of the obstetrics and gynecology field, including medicalization and unethical experimentation, can help further drive home the need for respectful care.
Respectful Care
Respectful maternity care is an approach that encourages shifting practice to reduce inequities in birth outcomes. Some clinicians may be unfamiliar with the concept of respectful maternity care, so supporting the spread of information and knowledge around respectful maternity care and its implementation is critical.
Objectives
The learning objectives of this course series are to …
- Describe the concepts of race and birth equity
- Describe the history concepts of medicalization of obstetrics, and unethical experimentation on marginalized populations
- Discuss how the history of the field affects obstetric and gynecologic care today
- Describe the goals of respectful maternity care and identify steps to put it into practice
Developed in partnership with the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center, this course is available to health care professionals such as obstetrician–gynecologists, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, family physicians, medical students and residents, and allied health professionals.
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number U7CMC33636 State Maternal Health Innovation Support and Implementation Program Cooperative Agreement. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.
Credits
ACCME Accreditation
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
College Cognate Credit(s)
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.5 Category 1 College Cognate Credits. The College has a reciprocity agreement with the AMA that allows AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ to be equivalent to College Cognate Credits.
Cognate Code: 03099
Conflict of Interest Disclosure
This project was supported by the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill under subaward number 5119477, which was awarded to ACOG.
All authors, contributors, reviewers, and staff have submitted a conflict-of- interest disclosure statement, and any potential conflicts have been considered and managed in accordance with ACOG's Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policy. Please view the Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policy, along with ACOG's Privacy Policy, for more information.
All subject matter experts received a one-time payment from ACOG for their participation in the development of the Respectful Care eModules. All other faculty, planning committee members, reviewers, and staff have no conflict of interest to disclose relative to the content of the presentation.