Savanna Fumbi Selected for 2024 McNair National Conference
USCB’s 2024 McNair Scholar Savanna Fumbi has been selected for the McNair National Conference. This prestigious research symposium will be held in at the University of Maryland in Baltimore from Sept. 18-22, 2024. Fumbi, a junior majoring in Psychology, will present her research project entitled “Obstetric Racism and Black Maternal Health Outcomes.” Her findings show that Black women are 3 to 4 times more likely to die during childbirth than White women, according to the CDC. The rates are relatively as high for Black women who have traumatic birthing experiences as well as preterm delivery.
Fumbi writes in her research abstract: "Considering the history of malpractice conducted on Black women in the United States in favor of medical advancement, it is likely that negative attitudes by medical providers, conscious or unconscious, presently impact the quality of care that Black women receive during and after pregnancy. This study is systematic literature review of both qualitative and quantitative studies conducted within the last twenty years on the relationship between obstetric racism and the adverse maternal health outcomes of Black women."
Fumbi’s findings propose practices to reduce obstetric racism and close the gaps that
prevent Black mothers from receiving equitable care.
Admistered by the U.S. Department of Education's Trio department, the McNair Scholars Program supports eligible undergraduates in acquiring the knowledge, skills and capacities they need to successfully navigate Ph.D. studies. The program focuses on first-generation college students and other members of underrepresented groups in academia. The participants become prepared for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities. Students chosen as McNair Scholars show exceptional academic potential, and those who present at the McNair National Conference are the best in the program. The McNair Scholars program was named after Ronald E. McNair, an American NASA astronaut and physicist who died at the age of 35 during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
Learn more about the McNair Scholars program.
- USCB -
kt / 8-8-2024