Discrimination and Regular Source of Care as Equity Factors Associated With Health and Stress During the Extended Postpartum Period

Objective

To estimate the frequency of racial/ethnic and gender discrimination and lack of a regular source of care in the postpartum period and to examine how these factors were related to health and stress in the postpartum period.

Design

Cross-sectional survey study.

Setting

Online research panels in the United States.

Participants

Survey respondents (N = 427: 424 women, 1 transgender man, 1 non-binary individual, and 1 individual for whom gender was missing).

Methods

Equity items included racial/ethnic discrimination, gender discrimination, and lack of a regular care source. Health outcomes included a global measure of physical and mental health, perceived stress, and postpartum-specific stress. We analyzed the data using correlational and hierarchical regression analyses adjusted for covariates.

Results

Racial/ethnic discrimination was reported by 15.2% of respondents, gender discrimination was reported by 45.9% of respondents, and lack of a regular source of care was reported by 13.8% of respondents. After adjusting for covariates, equity factors accounted for 1.8% of the variance in physical health (p < .05), 3.4% in mental health (p = .001), 5.0% in perceived stress (p < .001), and 7.8% in postpartum-specific stress (p < .001). The only significant equity factor significantly associated with physical and mental outcomes was gender discrimination.

Conclusion

Nearly half of respondents reported that they experienced gender discrimination. Gender discrimination was significantly related to worse health and higher stress. Nurses can aid women in dealing with gender discrimination by providing information about rights and resources.