The Black Maternal Health Crisis is Rooted in Racism
Myths from slavery cause medical bias and higher mortality rates in Black mothers and children
Updated October 8, 2022
Yesterday, this disturbing TikTok video went viral of a nurse questioning a pregnant woman’s pain and request for medical treatment. According to the Twitter thread, this incident allegedly happened at one of the Philly Pregnancy Centers and involved one of their nurse practitioners.
The Philly Pregnancy Center has two locations one in Philadelphia and the other in Norristown, Pennsylvania. It’s not clear which location this took place.
This may be shocking to some, but for far too many Black women, myself included being mistreated or dismissed by medical professionals is a sad, but common occurrence. While medical bias and abuse are humiliating — it’s also deadly and has caused the Black maternal health crisis. To make it plain — this issue is killing pregnant Black women and our children.
For more information on this real and serious crisis: https://www.birthingjustice.com/
I originally wrote about this issue 2 years ago when the March of Dimes partnered with Porsha Williams to bring more awareness to this issue. Below is the original article (with some revisions):
August 8, 2020
Yesterday, Porsha Williams, activist and RHOA and Dish Nation star hosted a discussion with Stacey Stewart, CEO of The March of Dimes about the Black Maternal Health Crisis. This serious and important conversation was on Instagram Live and they urged Black mothers to “Share Our Story” , become an advocate, or bring one with us when we go to the doctor. I know it may be difficult because of Covid-19 precautions, but for Black women, this could literally be a matter of life or death.
Porsha shared her touching and painful motherhood journey where she experienced a devastating miscarriage, had uterine fibroids, and gave birth to her daughter, “Baby PJ”. She bravely talked about her bout with postpartum depression and how she didn’t receive proper care and pain management and had to advocate for herself in spite of having good insurance.
Many Black women needlessly suffer in the medical system, but it’s especially dangerous during our pregnancies and birthing process. According to the CDC, Black mothers have a pregnancy-related mortality ratio 2 times higher than white mothers. In July 2020 a 26-year-old mother died during childbirth in New York and countless others over the years.
It’s imperative that we share our stories so we know we’re not alone. When we speak out, we empower others to speak up and help the world see that this is a systemic problem MOST Black women face regardless of socioeconomic status and class. Serena Williams is an award-winning, international tennis star married to a billionaire. Yet, she almost died in labor from a blood clot in her lungs because they didn’t listen to her when she kept telling them she couldn’t breathe. Thank God she advocated for herself, but if she and other Black celebrities like Porsha Williams (not related) with money, status, and access to the “best” medical treatment money buy aren’t listened to — the medical industry has a serious bias problem!
Ms. Stewart and Porsha stressed that medical racism is universal and “the entire industry needs to be retrained” to combat and eradicate implicit and explicit bias and mortality rates. Most Black and brown women who’ve experienced medical bias have been dismissed, disrespected, and ignored by white, Black, and brown doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. A lot of medical professionals in America are from other countries and are educated here and abroad. Yet, a 2016 study found that 25% of medical students still believe that Black and white people are genetically different.
Dangerous myths, lies, and pseudoscience from slavery carry over to modern medicine. Enslaved Africans were considered “3/5 human”. Slave owners and sadistic men like Dr. J. Marion Sims perpetuated the myth that Black women have a higher tolerance to pain when he conducted unethical and inhumane experimental operations without anesthesia, pain relievers, or follow-up care. Sims is still praised and regarded as the father of gynecology. Many feel Dr. Sims’ torture and mutilation of enslaved African women in the name of science and medicine is why Black women are treated so inhumanely, with indifference, and sometimes aggression to this day.
That’s why The March of Dimes launched its campaign. Too many Black women are getting hurt or dying because doctors and nurses simply don’t respect and listen to Black mothers or their significant others. Porsha added that she had several friends who all wanted natural births, but had emergency C-Sections which could have been prevented if the doctors had listened to the mothers.
The doctors could have used non-surgical strategies like turning the babies before cutting the mothers, causing more trauma, pain, and longer recovery time. The World Health Organization created non-clinical guidelines to address the increase in “unnecessary” Cesarean Sections (C-Sections). They added the C-Sections should always be the last choice. They are a major operation with a longer recovery time than vaginal birth. The doctor literally cuts into the mother’s stomach muscles and removes the baby risking injury and infections to the mother and baby. Staples and stitches are used to close the wound and it can cause permanent numbness and complications in future pregnancies.
I experienced this firsthand after being in labor from 5:00 am to 10:00 PM. Finally, after 2 epidurals and my begging the doctors for relief, I had an emergency C-Section, but my baby developed an infection and had to stay in the hospital for 2 weeks. I share the rest of my story in another article.
Please visit the March of Dimes website to share your story and learn how to become an advocate and advocate for yourself.
When we tell our stories we don’t allow others to tell it for us, minimize our pain or deny our truth. There is a Black Maternal Health Crisis that is hurting and literally killing Black mothers at an alarming rate due to systemic racism and bias. Too many of us have suffered in silence while the medical industry ignored and justified our neglect, harm and sometimes death. That stops today — share your story and shine a light on this dark secret!
See Part 2 for My Story