The United States has long had a birthing problem. The number of deaths among Black women giving birth is so high that it's beyond horrific -- they die during or shortly after childbirth at three times the rate that white mothers do -- and even the rate for white moms is not exemplary among wealthy nations.
For Black families, poverty, inequitable access to health care, simple racism are all at fault. And since almost a quarter of Black moms report poor treatment, significantly high stress is also a factor. An increase in the numbers of black "doulas," or midwives, hasn't been enough to turn things around.
On Thursday, the House Oversight Committee heard testimony from Black moms and dads about their experiences at hospitals during the births of their children. The stories were horrific, starting with testimony from one of their own: Representative Cori Bush of Missouri.
Bush had four months of intense vomiting, but her doctor brushed it off. A week later, Bush gave birth 17 weeks early. The baby spent five months in the hospital. Bush's doctor apologized and asked for another chance.
When Bush went into labor early again with her second child, the doctor on duty said, “Just go home. Let it abort. You can get pregnant again because that’s what you people do.” He left the room, and Bush's sister, who was with her, picked up a chair and threw it down the hall just to get someone else's attention.
"That's what desperation looks like," Bush said. This time, her doctor intervened, and in short, Bush's daughter was born full term.
Bush's story is one of three laid out in the Slate article with the link below.
One father, whose wife developed internal bleeding after the birth but had to wait 8-1/2 hours for care, said "There’s no statistic that can quantify what it’s like to tell an 18 month old that his mommy’s never coming home."
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/05/congress-faces-the-gut-wrenching-facts-of-the-black-maternal-mortality-crisis.html?fbclid=IwAR2Y2JS2J9AIVMoqDaiMbdMDJhWa68NjqWsXEX7JwO7-vQy_m3nXnKivoeU
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