Improving the Quality of Maternal Health Care for Black Women
When I gave birth to my son 19 years ago, I didn’t have the language to describe the trauma that is my birth story. I hadn’t yet heard of the framework that is reproductive justice. The term gaslighting hadn’t found its way into the popular lexicon. I wasn’t yet the public health expert I am now with an extensive background in supporting reproductive rights, reproductive health and women’s wellness issues for some of the country’s leading organizations.
In addition, a 9-foot-tall statue of J. Marion Sims, known as the “father of gynecology” stood in New York’s Central Park. It has since been removed and a monument was erected in Montgomery, Alabama of Anarcha, Lucy and Betsy, the enslaved women he performed horrific, maiming surgeries on without anesthesia in the name of advancing modern medicine. Today, these women, on whom he conducted hundreds of experiments, are known as the “mothers of gynecology.”
What I did know back in 2002 was that, when I said to my obstetrician that I could feel him cutting into my flesh while performing an emergency C-section that I was told was necessary to safely deliver my child, he told me that was impossible. But I did feel the incision. I was in pain.
Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes and are more likely to experience preventable complications throughout the course of their pregnancies than white women. Multiple factors contribute to these disparities, including differences in access to quality health care, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism and implicit bias, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also, research has shown that Black and Latinx women are evaluated for pain less frequently and receive less pain medication than white women although they have higher pain scores. The new term “medical gaslighting” has emerged among patients who believe their symptoms were inappropriately dismissed as minor or largely psychological by doctors.
Studies also have shown that, compared with men, women face longer waits to be diagnosed with heart disease and cancer and are less likely to be offered pain medications. They also are more likely to be misdiagnosed than men in a variety of situations, as reported in a recent New York Times article. Black women experience physical “weathering,” meaning their bodies age faster than white women’s due to exposure to chronic stress linked to socioeconomic disadvantage and discrimination over their life span. That makes pregnancy riskier.
To improve Black women’s maternal health, access to patient-centered comprehensive health care that is responsive to the needs of Black women and spans their entire lifetime must be expanded and maintained. Additionally, paid family and medical leave must be expanded in order to preserve economic stability and make the places Black women live and work healthier.
This year marks the fifth observance of Black Maternal Health Week, a campaign of awareness, activism and community building founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. Black Maternal Health Week, taking place from April 11-17, was officially recognized by the White House last year. To further amplify the voices of Black birthing people and center the values and traditions of the reproductive and birth justice movements, I will be participating in the National Birth Equity Collaborative’s panel Ain’t I A Woman? Black Repro in the Media on Wednesday, April 13, at 3 p.m. EDT along with Tatyana Ali and Tonya Lewis Lee – two powerhouses in the Black women’s health and wellness space.
I fully believe that Black women deserve to have safe and healthy pregnancies and childbirth and am doing what I can to achieve that goal.
