I read an article titled “Birthing while black: African American women face disproportinate risks during pregnancy.” In this article, the writer mentions how in Virginia, black women are three times more likely to suffer a pregnancy-related death. The writer interviewed Courtney Glenn, who is the co-founder of a group that helps provide culturally-centered support in Virginia. Glenn said that the reason for this could be due to a lack of care and racism by doctors. She said that often doctors do not take African American pregnant women seriously when they complain about pain during their pregnancy. The writer also includes a study from the University of Virginia in 2016 that showed that racial bias played a role in how soon-to-be doctors treated patient pain.
It is disappointing that someone could receive different treatment by their doctor just because of their race. People in the hospital for their pregnancy deserve to be treated well and supported throughout the process. If doctors are knowingly not providing the best care they can, they are endangering the mother and also the baby. The fact that the statistics show such a disparity between the treatment received by a pregnant woman based on their race shows that there is discrimination involved. Groups like Glenn’s and also other groups are working hard to fix this problem, but it needs to be addressed quickly to prevent unnecessary health problems and even deaths.
-Brian Lief
As someone who lives in Virginia, this is very true but a huge reason this is the case has to do with insurance and access to insurance. People of color are less likely to have insurance and even more so for black women. Because of the disproportional rate of poverty in this country, affording health insurance is a privilege and even with Medicaid, you get minimal care.
I have worked for a doctor’s office and we do not take Medicaid. Doctors also have credentials with specific insurances so they are likely to pay more attention to insurance holders that pay the most than those who don’t. Statistics show that Twenty-five percent of Black women are covered by Medicaid. Fifty-two percent of Black girls (age 0-17) are covered by Medicaid and nationally, one in four Black women relies on Medicaid for health coverage.
In the article Black Women’s Access to Health Insurance, it was found that more than 12 percent of Black women are uninsured, compared to eight percent of white
women, nearly 1 in 5 low-income Black women is uninsured, compared to nearly 1 in 6 low-income
white women, Black women in states that have not expanded Medicaid have the lowest coverage rates.
It is a system that needs to be fixed.
http://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/health-care/black-womens-health-insurance-coverage.pdf