The Canadian Medical Association Journal published a study that analysed more than 108,000 in‑hospital deliveries to Black parents and over 1.3 million deliveries to white parents across Canada between 2012 and 2023.

Severe maternal morbidity – conditions such as pre‑eclampsia, haemorrhage or sepsis – occurred in 47.8 per 1,000 live births for Black parents, compared with 27.7 per 1,000 for white parents.

After controlling for age, immigration status and pre‑existing health conditions, Black parents still faced a 66 % higher likelihood of life‑threatening complications, the authors note.

The researchers argue that the persistent gap points to broader structural influences on maternal health and underscores an urgent need for systematic race‑based data collection, they say.

Higher household income was associated with better outcomes for white parents but, paradoxically, with increased severe complications for Black parents – a ‘diminishing returns’ effect that Giulia Muraca, associate professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at McMaster University, described as evidence that structural marginalisation blunts the protective value of wealth.

Muraca added that routine collection of race‑based metrics would allow institutions to monitor inequities in access, communication and treatment, and hold the health‑care system accountable.

By quantifying the disparity, the study provides the empirical foundation needed to push for policy reforms, targeted interventions and equitable resource allocation, making race‑based data a prerequisite for dismantling systemic anti‑Black racism in Canada’s health‑care system.