First Advisor
Tina Burdsall
Date of Award
Fall 11-21-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Public Health Studies: Community Health Promotion and University Honors
Department
Community Health
Language
English
Subjects
Community Health, Maternal Health, Asian American Health, Asian American Maternal Health, Model Minority Myth, Data Aggregation
DOI
10.15760/honors.1822
Abstract
This thesis aims to explore the maternal healthcare system in the United States as it pertains to Asian American birthing people, the ways in which their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities are interacted with within the U.S. Healthcare system, and subsequently the detrimental effects of the medical system's devaluation of culturally specific birthing and postpartum practices have on Asian American birthing experiences. This will be accomplished through an exploration of the United States' maternal healthcare system, or rather, its crisis; how Asian Americans navigate a system that has not been structured to support their specific needs; and lastly, a discussion of the ways in which the specific needs of Asian American birthing people can be addressed through comprehensive policy changes within localized hospital settings and macro-level social and political systems, and the subsequent systems-wide impacts of doing so.
The general topic of Asian American healthcare needs comes at an especially poignant time in the United States' current political landscape, with those in power actively working to erase the needs, stories, and identities of several marginalized communities. Through an exploration of the specific healthcare needs of Asian American birthing people and identifying key issues such as data aggregation and the model minority myth (MMM), this thesis works to call attention to and take action for a broadly complex racial group filled with hundreds of diverse cultural and ethnic communities that are often silenced through racialized grouping.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44755
Recommended Citation
Hevel, Sophia, "Understanding the U.S. Maternal Healthcare System at the Intersection of Asian American Birth Outcomes and the Model Minority Stereotype: A Literature Review" (2025). University Honors Theses. Paper 1783.
https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.1822
Included in
Asian American Studies Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Maternal and Child Health Commons, Other Public Health Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons, Women's Health Commons