By Madison Reinschmidt
As an emergency room doctor’s daughter, I grew up hearing many entertaining (and disturbing) stories from my dad’s experiences. Whether it was a fork stuck in someone’s foot or someone falling down the stairs and landing on a blender blade (yes, true story), I found myself fascinated by some of the medical horror stories I would hear.
Although I was never interested in the idea of working in the medical field (the mere sight of needles makes me woozy and nauseous), I am able to recognize the incredible value of proper healthcare. My dad has always been there to take care of my family whenever a medical need arose. He can provide us prompt care when treating an infected cat scratch or advising us on which medications can or cannot be used simultaneously. I know that whenever I am taking my dad’s advice, that I can rely on the information he provides and trust that he has my best interests in mind.
However, not everyone is blessed with this resource. Proper medical care is not provided to each person in the United States equally. Specifically, expectant black women are often not taken seriously when it comes to their pregnancy needs. According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, black women are more likely to face mortality from pregnancy or childbirth than women of any other race; they are also “3 to 4 times more likely to experience pregnancy-related death than white women.” Furthermore, black-serving hospitals display higher rates of maternal complications than other hospitals due to a poor performance in delivery rooms, states the National Partnership for Women and Families.
According to the CDC, two out of three pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, a tragic reality of women’s pregnancy experiences in the United States. And a terrifying detail of this reality is that minority women are dying at higher rates, which may be due to poor quality healthcare and implicit race biases. As stated by the American Heart Association, there is no biological difference among races; the difference in these statistics is racism.
Living in a sinful world means that it is not always possible to understand the “whys.” Why should one individual receive better care just because of the color of their skin? Why aren’t black pregnant women taken seriously as patients? Why aren’t all medical personnel equipped with the service and love that God, as ultimate Healer, can provide? As I continue to navigate these topics, I will aim to uncover more of the truth and be a voice for change.