Racial Disparities and Systemic Racism in Childbirth 

The nurses didn't look twice at my birthplan. They continued to pressure me with interventions that were against my birth plan. When they saw I truly wasn't going to take the interventions one nurse didn't come back the entire shift. She also kept referring to my husband as my boyfriend when I informed her several times he was husband. Then the doctor said 3 times that I would get a free breastpump and WIC even after I explained I was privately insured and didn't qualify for government assistance. I could go on and on and on.

It feels aweful, I'm currently pregnant and allI get from my doctors are cut and dry orders. They do assume you are on welfare or are ignorant of the birthing process. Since week 32 of my pregnancy they have tried to schedule a C-Section. My baby was frank breech at the time but by the next appointment the baby changed position and since then she is head down. When I shared the good news with my OB her response was: "for now!". Now I'm 38 weeks and feeling the pressure of scheduling an induction. It is very stressful because I feel like everytime I go to see the doctor they are trying to force me into getting some sort of intervention to save my baby's life. My stress test are perfect, baby is growing, I have very good amount of amniotic fluid, I don't have Diabetes or any chronic condition... No high blood pressure, etc... I'm 38 yrs old. and apparently for them that is enough reason to induced me or make me have a c section.

Important and well-researched -- thank you for this!

I finished your book “Babies are not pizzas” Thank you for putting the evidence information out. 🙏🏾

VERY important. So very important. Black women, it is critical that we understand the obstacles we are born into, and take proactive steps to combat these disadvantages for the sake of ourselves and our babies. And as Rebecca states at the end, it is extremely important for white people to be proactive in undoing this oppressive system that they have historically and systemically put into place, causing these disparities to begin with. It is our job to protect, educate, and heal ourselves daily (self-care is no longer an option for us), and it is white people's job to work daily at undoing their system.

This is a wonderful resource - thanks for putting it together and articulating what is here. That said, this is dealing with the tip of the iceberg, dealing with some of the symptoms of racism as we as a people grapple with really unraveling the entrenched systems of oppression. But, we must start now and you have given many of us a way to talk meaningfully with others.

Ok help me understand the racism part? This is a real inquiry. Doctors, nurses, staff have treated me like garbage plenty of times and I’m a white male. Seen them do it to my mother and my aunt especially also (both are white). Just the other day again, I mistakenly kept calling a white couple at my work boyfriend/girlfriend instead of husband/wife for some unknown reason and they were white like me. I’ve done it many times. Maybe it’s bcz I’m not married I really don’t know why I do it but race isn’t any part of it. If a nurse is rude to you or the doctor recommends a certain program or procedure it’s probably based on medical procedure, your insurance, or policy requirements. If the doctor sees you are on Medicaid, it’s reasonable to assume you may not be rich or are single, not working, etc bcz that’s what Medicaid is for. But that’s classism or wealthism, not racism. Unless the staff straight up says something really racist, I don’t see it fair to accuse someone of racism. It’s a very bad thing to be accused of. I would love to hear replies.

Gee, did you ever think it could possibly be that people choosing to live irresponsible lives may have more complications in childbirth? And controlling for other risk factors is not possible. And what is the childbirth experience like in Africa? Oh let me guess there's also systemic racism there to?

There's a bunch of FACELESS racist cowards in this comments' section, I know that... If you disagree with the FACTS presented here, go and conduct your own study without running into the same exact information from ACCREDITED sources that Rebecca and all the top most-educated researchers have come across in their EXTENSIVE studies!!

Any person that is not emotionally balanced will suffer more than others due to stress. Stress comes from several factors, racism is potentially one of those. By far, not the only one. This analysis sounds like a justification to proof a point. Talking about child death rates and not addressing the medical system in your country and rather trying to model out different circumstances make the conclusions invalid. In my view.

What a load of crap

Woke virtue-signalling nonsense.