Race, Sex, Bias: understanding the issues concerning the high maternal mortality rates and biological weathering of black women
Vincent Ikegbunam
‘The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.’ 1 - Malcom X, 1962
The joys and tribulations of pregnancy often signify a major shift in the life of a woman. It brings about a change in the woman’s life, as the attention abruptly becomes foc used on her survival and care. However, it would be naïve to suggest that these attributes are uniform fromwoman to woman. For the most part, the experience of pregnancy for the Black Woman is a time of great doubt and uncertainty as life is ultimately subjected to the hands of another who may not have the adequate understanding of her body.
With each appointment, the Black Woman’s concerns are met with subtle undertones of disregard and bias disguised by words like ‘you’ re overthinking it’ or ‘it’s just a normal part of pregnancy’, but she recognizes that there is clearly something not right. Her constant symptoms of shortness of breath and sharp chest pains points to her possibly having complications due to pulmonary embolism (a blockage of the arteries in the lungs), 2 which she has suffered from. It isn’t until she’s pestered the doctor about her health concerns and realizes her rising blood pressure could be because of her possible condition that a blood test and scan is run in which her concerns are proven to be true. If it had been diagnosed any later, her condition could have been fatal for her and the baby. Unfortunately, it’s th at latter experience that has been and continues to be the fate of many black women across the diaspora due to numerous examples of health neglect and racial bias by healthcare professionals.
Figure 1 – Pregnancy-related mortality of U.S. women, by race, 1987-1990 (Family Planning Perspectives Vol 28, No. 6 1996)
In November 2019, a report conducted by Oxford University concluded that for pregnant women, those that are black are five times more likely to die from childbirth, pregnancy-related diseases or within the post-partum period compared to white pregnant women. 3 Similarly, in the United States the discrepancies are discernible with Black and Indigenous Americans being up to four times as likely to
1 The Lilly, Black women and girls deserve better, 2020. 2 HealthLinkBC, Pulmonary Embolism , 2017. 3 University of Oxford, More action needed to prevent maternal deaths across the UK, 2018.
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