In today's episode, we will discuss the racial disparities is US healthcare and the continual marginalization and disenfranchisement of black women and their health.  We will talk about the transgenerational effects of epigenetic of black women and how they affect their risks and childbirth outcomes.  We will also look at the implicit biases of birth professionals and the effects they can have on black women's childbirth outcomes.

 

In this episode, we explore:

0:38 Black Maternal Health statistics

4:34 Mitsuzi's background

5:58 Exploring the relationship between healthcare workers and doulas

8:12 Birthing Noire childbirth education course, Mindfulness program & doula services

11:04 Black maternal health and the black maternity mortality crisis in the United States

14:04 The transgenerational effects of racism and the epigenetics of black women

16:41 The effects of implicit biases of birth professionals on black women's childbirth outcomes

20:33 What can Black mothers do to advocate and protect themselves when giving birth

23:07 What can we do to change the state of black maternal health and the staggering rates of mortality of black mothers in America as a society

24:09 Book recommendations

 

 

About Mit

Mitsuzi Stone is a labor and delivery nurse, birth doula and birth mindset coach. Her passion for birth and coaching expecting families comes from her background as a Labor and Delivery Registered Nurse with a love for education. She believes every family should have the birth experience they desire, and her goal is to get you to that place through mindfulness practice. She is here to serve your family with a heart of compassion and loving kindness.

 

Find Mit

https://www.birthingnoire.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/birthing_noire/ 

 

 

Show Notes:

Resources

• Black Women's Blueprint https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/ 
• Black Women's Health Imperative https://bwhi.org/ 
• National Birth Equity Collaborative https://birthequity.org/ 
• Black Mamas Matter https://blackmamasmatter.org/ 
• Moms Rising https://www.momsrising.org/ 
• The International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA) https://icea.org/ 
• Pregnant Patient's Bill of Rights https://www.ccbirthcenter.com/direct/files/First%20Trimester%20Education/Pregnant_Patient_Bill_of_Rights.pdf 
• Pregnant Patient's Responsibilities https://www.tcfmedicine.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/The_Pregnant_Patients_Responsibilities.pdf 
• Evidence-Based Birth Birth Justice Page https://evidencebasedbirth.com/birth-justice/ 

 

Articles

• https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/america-is-failing-its-black-mothers/ 
• https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pregnancy-relatedmortality.htm 
• https://bwhi.org/2018/01/11/major-change-medicaid-threatens-healthcare-access-low-income-black-women/ 
• https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/black-maternal-health-canada_ca_5ed90ae3c5b685164f2eab93 
• https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a33417738/black-maternal-mortality-interview-latham-thomas/

Books

• Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, Dorothy Roberts
• Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, Harriet A Washington
• Black Milk: Maternal Bodies, Wet Nursing, and Black Women's Invisible Labor in the Antebellum Slave Market, Stephanie Jones-Rogers (essay)
• Medical Bondage: Race, Gender and The Origins of American Gynecology, Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens
• Battling Over Birth: Black Women and the Maternal Health Care Crisis, Julia Chinyere Oparah, Helen Arega, Dantia Hudson, Linda Jones, Talita Oseguera
• Reproductive Justice: A New Vision for the 21st Century, Loretta Ross
• Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Healthcare Crisis in the USA, Amnesty International (report)
• The Politics of Trauma, Staci K. Haines

 

 

Mit's Book Recommendation

• Mindful Birthing by Nancy Bardacke

 

Statistics Sources:

• https://www.propublica.org/article/nothing-protects-black-women-from-dying-in-pregnancy-and-childbirth
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5744583/
• https://www.marchofdimes.org/materials/March-of-Dimes-Racial-and-Ethnic-Disparities_feb-27-2015.pdf
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2594154/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK32818/
• https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/ms/pregnancy-associated-mortality-report.pdf
• https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-49607727/black-women-five-times-more-likely-to-die-in-childbirth
• https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/black-women-canada-higher-risk-preterm-births-256639

 

Find Blooming Mamahood www.bloomingmamahood.com www.instagram.com/bloomingmamahood www.instagram.com/bloomingbirtheducation

 

Find Laurie Lo www.instagram.com/_laurielo www.youtube.com/LaurieLo