Arline Geronimus examined the societal perceptions of teenage pregnancy among Black girls 40 years ago, revealing that younger mothers often experienced more successful pregnancies. Contrary to popular belief, her findings indicated higher risks of infant mortality associated with older maternal age. Geronimus's research faced backlash, but she expanded her focus to explore how systemic racism impacts health, ultimately developing the theory of "Weathering," which describes how chronic stress from societal pressures adversely affects Black Americans' health outcomes.
"This was a new idea, this new deviant class of people, and it was portrayed in these terms that were really not accurate: babies having babies."
"For the Black women, the lowest risk ages were in the teens and the late teens. And then they went straight up...by 35, things were off the charts."
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