Reply to A shocking number of women are harassed, ignored, or mistreated during childbirth

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Reply to "A shocking number of women are harassed, ignored, or mistreated during childbirth"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Everyone needs to listen to the experience of Black maternal mistreatment.  Not just when you're also allowed to chime in.  We need to understand this to our core and fight for better care for THEM.  As a consequence, care for all mothers will improve.  But if you insist on doing it the other way around, the disparity will still remain for Black mothers.  Unfortunately, in reality women's rights only improve when White women complain. [/quote]

I'm still not sure what your point is?  Although Black women face additional barriers due to race, there are absolutely common issues in maternity care.  Do you think white women should not take any action or voice any opinion at all, thereby not improving things for anyone?  Seriously, what is your theory of change here?  [/quote]

[I'm the poster you're quoting, but not the PP that first asked white women to listen]

I think we (non-Black women) need to beat the drums about the poor care of Black mothers.  Make that the narrative.  When we advocate for better care for Black mothers, we can address both the issues of mothers being dismissed AND the racial disparities Black mothers face in health care.  So everyone wins.  The alternative, which is the status quo, is that white women will only complain because it affects them personally.  So the change is solely for their benefit, and the racial disparity aspect is overlooked.

-signed: South Asian-American woman who works in public health and whose concerns were dismissed during childbirth to her and her baby's detriment[/quote]

Ok sure - but the problem is that the proven way to reduce maternal mortality is UNIFORM standards of care in hospitals (such as in California, where a standardized response & training to common childbirth issues has reduced maternal mortality).  Focusing on Black women only seems to suggest that they are different medically, which I do not think is the case, and in fact runs counter to other current critiques on race and medicine.  Obviously we need to advocate for equal access to quality healthcare, but the "narrative" can't be that only black women need these improvements.  (Because at a minimum that also ignores Latina and indigenous women ... )

California's approach:  https://www.npr.org/2018/07/29/632702896/to-keep-women-from-dying-in-childbirth-look-to-california
Race in medical research:  https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/02/05/465616472/is-it-time-to-stop-using-race-in-medical-research

[/quote]

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