The AAMC Center for Health Justice recently conducted a poll of a nationally representative sample of people in the United States who had given birth in the last 5 years to explore pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences. The highlights of the poll were presented in a data brief published in May 2022, From Pregnancy to Policy: Experiences of Birthing People in the U.S. About 13% of the sample identified with the LGBTQ+ community (including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, asexual, and other). In a new polling spotlight, the center highlights findings that significantly differed from responses of the heterosexual, cisgender population.
Read the full polling spotlight and download the data
When we put this spotlight together, I was especially shocked by the inequities in postpartum mental health complications: LGBTQ+ people experienced postpartum depression or anxiety at nearly double the rate of heterosexual, cisgender people. While the results were surprising, I'm glad we were able to shed some light on inequities for this little-studied community, and hope to see more research that can contribute to addressing these inequities. What stood out for you about the findings? Did anything line up with what you already knew? What other research gaps need to be addressed to improve health for LGBTQ+ people?
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Sarah Piepenbrink
Communications Manager
Health Equity Research & Policy
Association of American Medical Colleges
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