Social Support and Maternal Healthcare Utilization Among Black Women in Mississippi

Abstract

Objective: Maternal health disparities in the United States continue to disproportionately affect Black and minority women, especially in states like Mississippi where maternal mortality rates remain among the highest in the nation. This study explores how social support influences the utilization of prenatal and postpartum care among Black women in this high-risk context. Methods: Data were drawn from a 2024 cross-sectional survey of 157 Black women in Mississippi. Participants either were currently pregnant or had experienced pregnancy. Logistic regression models, including Firth’s penalized likelihood estimation, were used to assess the relationship between reported social support and maternal healthcare use, adjusting for key demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical variables based on Andersen’s Behavioral Model. Results: Women who reported strong social support were significantly more likely to have received prenatal care (β = 1.12, p =.0069), with the effect persisting across fully adjusted models. A similar positive association was observed for postpartum checkups in partially adjusted models (β = 0.81, p =.0081), although significance diminished when accounting for enabling and need-related factors. Interaction analyses revealed that social support combined with access to emergency obstetric care markedly increased the likelihood of both prenatal and postpartum care utilization. Conclusion: These findings underscore the vital role of social support in improving maternal healthcare uptake among Black women in Mississippi. Strengthening support networks and ensuring access to critical services may be key strategies for reducing persistent racial and geographic disparities in maternal health outcomes.