Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Obstetrics and Obstetric Anesthesia in the United States

Disparities are prevalent within healthcare. Racial and ethnic disparities have been described in the use of neuraxial labor analgesia, in the prevalence of some obstetric conditions, and in obstetric outcomes. The origins of these disparities are likely to be multi-factorial, with patient, provider, and systems-level contributors. One of the objectives of Healthy People 2020 is to achieve health equity, thus eliminating racial and/or ethnic disparities in care. In this review, we give an overview of disparities in obstetric anesthetic and obstetric care.