Childbirth is usually a remarkable and blissful time in a women life. A new step into adulthood as they come to care and bring new life into the world. Many women prepare for weeks if not months for the arrival of their new child/children. But many women of color specifically black women do not live long enough during birth in order to welcome their new child into the world.
Many black women who are pregnant experience negative and neglectful treatment during their pregnancy. According to blue cross and blue shield its been reported that, ten percent said they “felt emotionally upset as a result of how they were treated based on their race (during the 12 months before their baby was born)”. And a “third of pregnant women reported not receiving prenatal care during their first trimester, a larger percentage of them non-white”. The mortality rate in the United States have surpassed any industrial countries and became the highest over these past few years. Causing an alarming concern for black women and their unborn babies.
https://www.bcbs.com/the-health-of-america/healthequity/partnering-with-failth-communities-to-support-pregnant-women-of-color/
Black pregnant women are not considered as important as their other pregnant counterparts. Their pain and concerns are deem as insignificant and are brush aside. Celebrities such as Beyonce and Serena Williams have come into contact with the lack of care of pregnant black women which almost cost them their lives and the life of their child. Both had pre determined problems from their last pregnancy, when they voiced their concerns the health professionals taking care of them simply ignored both of them causing their problem to prolong and worsen.
When we look at the communication surrounding this problem we can see it isn’t on many news platforms or spoken about as much. The spotlight that this problems receives is almost little to none resulting in an under knowledge of the systemic distortion of health care that black pregnant women receives. “Around 700 pregnant women die in the U.S every year, around 2/3 of those death are black women”, according the cdc.
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2019/02/20/why-are-black-women-at-such-high-risk-of-dying-from-pregnancy-complications
In order to make a positive impact surrounding this issue we first need to change the lack of coverage surrounding the problem. Many of the deaths that occur are preventable, with the right support/care, and coverage surrounding this topic we can drop black women mortality rates so they can come to enjoy childbirth and the new life they have created.
I believe it is the time for health professionals to reevaluate themselves and learn to access patients as is medical deem fit. In order to eliminate the patriarchy racism, and elitism so black women can deliver the children in a safe and comfortable environment.
https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternal-mortality/disparities-pregnancy-related-deaths/infographic.html
Although I understand that racism is a problem within the community, I do not believe that racism is directly portrayed through doctors. I believe that these overwhelming numbers have less to do with racism and more to do with location and accessibility. What I mean by this is that if you live in an impoverished community, you will not receive the same health care as those who live in a wealthy community. I am in no way saying that African Americans only live in poor communities because that is not the case, but statistically poorer communities consist of minorities. If two people were to enter the same hospital I believe that they would receive the same care. But, you can not compare the care given in a wealthy hospital to that given in a less wealthy hospital. Because of this, I do not believe that our health care professions are racist. And I certainly do not believe that they would intentionally harm or refuse care to someone in need based off of skin color alone.
It’s deeply disheartening that women are denied proper medical care due to racial prejudices that span all classes and credibility. Everyone deserves proper health care and the fact that Black women are consistently less likely to receive it shows the flaws in the healthcare system. I agree that more publicity should be given to this misrepresentation, which would (hopefully) inevitably lead to increased accountability for doctors that shirk on their duties outlined by the Hippocratic oath.
I have actually never heard of this problem before and it is quite alarming to me to hear this. It is so sad and disappointing to hear that these women are being treated different because of their race. Society needs to see that everyone is the same no matter what race, gender, sex, etc they are. Your blog brings up a serious issue and I think it really stresses an issue of how racism is affecting these innocent mothers and unborn and newborn babies. This needs to be stopped. I liked how you had an introduction that drew the reader in as well, this made us really catch the main idea of the blog. The main message was clear and this needs to stop and something needs to be done to stop this now. You made an excellent blog about this issue and I was really able to understand the issue at hand.