Structural Factors That Affect Life Contexts of Pregnant People With Opioid Use Disorders: The Role of Structural Racism and the Need for Structural Competency

Abstract

This article is a commentary on Preis et al.’s (2020) article “Improving Assessment, Treatment, and Understanding of Pregnant Women With Opioid Use Disorder: The Importance of Life Context.” Here I discuss the importance of structural racism in any evaluation of the life context of people of color in the United States. The recent “crack baby” epidemic provides an example of the impact of structural racism on the assessment and treatment of pregnant women of color. Structural analysis is often missing from medical education and training. I argue that physicians’ structural competence is necessary for reproductive justice.

Keywords:

• Opioid use disorder
• pregnancy
• reproductive health
• structural racism
• structural competency
• medical education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).