Black Women’s Perceptions of Perinatal Healthcare in New York City Community Health Centers

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of Black women who have received perinatal care in New York City (NYC) community health centers and the perceived impact on their maternal health behaviors and outcomes. Although maternal health care delivery and outcomes among Black women have been explored in research, socially and economically disenfranchised Black women in NYC who rely on community health centers for perinatal care have not been included in this research. This study involved addressing the lack of knowledge of Black women’s experiences with perinatal care in NYC’s community health system and consisted of seven Black women between the ages of 27 and 35 who reside in NYC, received prenatal care from a licensed obstetrical healthcare provider in a NYC community health center in the past 2 years, and gave birth to a live infant between 2022-2024. A narrative inquiry approach was used to collect data, followed by an analysis of data guided by the social ecological model and Black feminist theory. Analysis of data revealed six key themes: challenges with prenatal care access, consistency and continuity, barriers and facilitators to positive maternal health outcomes, preference for Black perinatal healthcare providers, impact of cultural understanding, and self-advocacy in community care settings. The findings of this study contribute knowledge to community-based maternal health organizations, healthcare systems, and perinatal healthcare practitioners and include insights regarding how perinatal care delivery among Black women in NYC is perceived and experienced, leading to positive social change.