Summary

A woman recounts her traumatic medical experience in Ohio due to racial bias and discusses her plans to leave the state to ensure safer childbirth in the future.

Abstract

The author shares a personal story of medical neglect due to racial bias in Ohio, where she faced a life-threatening delay in treatment for appendicitis as a child. She highlights the alarming maternal mortality rates for black women in the state, which are the highest in the nation. This experience has instilled a deep fear in her about giving birth in Ohio, prompting her to plan for a future outside the state where she can access a black doctor and midwife. She suggests that black women should seek black medical professionals, threaten litigation for malpractice, and make doctors aware of their implicit biases to protect themselves. The author calls for medical professionals to take implicit bias tests and for medical schools to incorporate more humanities into their curriculum to improve patient relationships.

Opinions

The author believes that the medical system in Ohio is racist and has failed to improve over the past decade.
She expresses a lack of trust in the Ohio medical system, particularly concerning childbirth for black women.
The author advocates for black women to take proactive steps to safeguard themselves from medical racism.
She has little confidence in the current measures to address medical racism, calling them "not concrete."
The author has hope that future changes in medical education and awareness of implicit biases will lead to better care for black patients.
Despite her concerns, she remains optimistic that medical professionals will eventually address these issues effectively.

My State Wants to Kill Me — That’s Why I’ll Raise My Children Somewhere Else

The maternal mortality rates in Ohio are scary for black women.

Black women have the highest maternal mortality rates in the U.S. (2.5x that of white women).

But it gets worse.

Some states are worse than others for black moms. My state, Ohio, happens to be the worst ever.

I’ll never forget the run-in I had with the racist medical system when I was 10 years old. I got appendicitis after eating some cheese bread. The pain in my abdomen was so horrendous that I couldn’t even take a bath without help.

If I had waited one more day to see the doctor, I’d be dead, full stop.

Once I got to the emergency room, the nurse told me I had appendicitis and I’d need surgery to have it removed. I thought, “Okay, this seems like a common procedure that most people won’t die from”…except me.

They waited 5 DAYS to operate on me.

My appendix already burst during the long wait.

My mom wailed in sadness while I was hopped up on anesthesia. She told me the doctor said it was “really bad.” Also, when they laid me out on the operating table, they thought I was 16 instead of 10.

What’s that called? Say it with me.

Medical racism.

That was 10 years ago today. And nothing has been done, especially in Ohio, to improve this.

As someone who wants to have children in the future, I’m terrified of this.

That’s why I plan to move out of Ohio (I already wanted to do that anyway) and get a midwife and a black doctor for my pregnancy.

How can black people safeguard themselves from this situation?

Try and find a black doctor and a black midwife
Threaten medical malpractice litigation
Make your doctor more cognizant of the implicit biases they might have (for example, ask them if they’re aware of the maternal mortality rate for black women)

I’m only comfortable around other black people who can deliver my child safely.

What can medical professionals do to correct this situation?

I’d start by taking an Implicit Association Test. These tests are created for people to gain awareness of their implicit biases. They’re easy to take online. After that, it’s on the medical institution itself to figure out how to make sure medical professionals are falling in line.

I know these solutions aren’t concrete, but I do have faith that medical professionals will figure it out.

Medical schools have recently made changes to their curriculum, making it a more liberal/humanities-based curriculum instead of just math and science. The strict curriculum that med students had is made to desensitize themselves for the patient and focus on solving the problem or curing the disease.

We need a better doctor/patient relationship with our doctors for this nightmare to end.

Hopefully, things will change in the future and I can have my children in Ohio.

But right now, I’ll take my chances somewhere else.

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