Post

The Washington Post
@washingtonpost.com

Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as White women. Doulas, midwives, nurses and obstetricians are explicitly preparing Black women to speak up loudly for themselves in the delivery room.

washingtonpost.comWhy Black women are being told to speak up during and after childbirthDoulas, midwives, nurses and obstetricians are explicitly preparing Black women to speak up loudly for themselves in the delivery room.

217 reposts675 likes

docmjmd.bsky.social
@docmjmd.bsky.social

This problem is complex. Racism is a factor, genetics is a factor, social economic issues are a factor and none of those factors exist in isolation which makes the problem even more complicated. The important question is how do we fix this? We don’t get there by pointing fingers.

Kim 🇪🇨🥤
@dietcok3girl.bsky.social

The victim blaming in some of these replies is disgusting but sadly not surprising. Implicit bias against Black women is embedded in the healthcare system. There are too many studies proving this to be true to argue otherwise. Just admit you’re a racist and move on.

applejack
@onbuzzer.bsky.social

This has been a known issue for decades. Maybe instead of yet another push for patients to do the work, residency programs and medical schools could start training out medical racism and bias in new doctors. Last I heard some were still teaching that Black people required less pain medication.

Ms. MishMash
@msmishmash.bsky.social

"to speak up loudly for themselves in the delivery room" Two possibilities: 1) They're there under anesthesia: not much chance of any "speaking up"; 2) They're not under anesthesia: oh, they'll speak up alright, and loudly, from the pain!

Margot Sibley
@margotsibley25.bsky.social

Po Black women also have higher rates of hypertension and diabetes. These diseases r a function of diet and genetics. Welfare mother's do not eat well. Well observed in the ghettos. Institutional Enslavement. The implication that health care ignores because they r Black is idiotic.

Andolynne
@andolynne.bsky.social

And yet WAPO would not endorse the party that would keep this from happening. Instead, you are paying fealty to the party that sentenced women to die simply because they are women.

applejack
@onbuzzer.bsky.social

I'm with you, but this goes far beyond the Dobbs decision. Medical racism has been killing Black people for centuries. In this case there's likely the combo of medical racism, lack of prenatal care and complications arising from a lack of resources (food deserts, hard working conditions, etc).

docmjmd.bsky.social
@docmjmd.bsky.social

If thats the message then its an gross oversimplification of the problem. Maternal outcomes don’t depend just on what happens in delivery. Its dependent on everything that happened in the 9 months of pregnancy and also on things that happened before pregnancy began.

applejack
@onbuzzer.bsky.social

Black women experience maternal mortality at rates 2.5-4x higher than white women of the same age. mcpress.mayoclinic.org/pregnancy/bl... This remains true regardless of socioeconomic status or educational attainment. There's a lot of factors involved but one of them is certainly medical neglect.

mcpress.mayoclinic.orgWhy are Black maternal mortality rates so high? - Mayo Clinic PressDiscover the harsh reality of higher black maternal mortality rates. Learn about systemic factors contributing to this health disparity and how we can reduce rates.
JoJo!
@jojoblueskywalker.bsky.social

And who will they be speaking up to in the delivery room? Doulas, midwives, nurses and obgyns. Instead of putting the onus on the victims, maybe “explicitly” prep doulas, midwives, nurses & obgyns to LISTEN. Systemic racism doesn’t listen better because victims are louder. 🤷‍♀️