Part III: Please Record in Your Notes That You Refused
Let’s discuss how some black women feel about doctor office visits and hospital stays. According to aamc.org, “Half of white medical trainees believe such myths as black people have thicker skin or less sensitive nerve endings than white people.” Obviously this is not true but misinformed medical providers may be more likely to deny black patients pain relief when asking for it or be dismissive when they bring up that something hurts.
This has resulted in countless misdiagnoses, long lasting physical ailments and even deaths in black people because they are refused the treatment that they deserve. The denial of proper treatment affects black women more often because of how childbirth is addressed.
Black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women because “Basically, black women are undervalued. They are not monitored as carefully as white women are. When they do present with symptoms, they are often dismissed.” (Dr. Ana Langer)
One example of this is that of Serena Williams, one of the most famous African American female professional tennis players. After giving birth to her daughter via cesarean section she began to feel short of breath. Williams immediately alerted nurses who turned around and dismissed her concerns as quickly as she told them. It was later discovered that there were blood clots covering the arteries on her lungs and the medical staff wasted time that they could have taken advantage of to help address and solve her issue.
Unfortunately this isn’t something that happens once every blue moon. Many black women in labor and delivery have similar stories where their concerns are not acknowledged and because of this they either leave behind an unnecessarily traumatic birth experience or they don’t leave at all.
The history of this mistreatment goes back to the time of slavery. James Marion Sims, a 19th century physician conducted inhumane treatments on enslaved black women and used his studies to become the father of gynecology. These women were basically tortured and tested on without their consent or the proper pain reducing medication. His studies resulted in the development of the vaginal speculum. When historians were asked for a reason as to why Sims was able to perform these experiments, they answered that he was just a man of his times.
This statement is harsh but makes sense considering the endless trauma that enslaved people endured. Though his studies proved to be beneficial to the development of gynecology, they were inhuman and affected each woman involved in ways we could never imagine. Black women today are still suffering from the effects of Sims studies and it is time to make a change.
We need a more relevant study conducted that takes black women’s feelings into consideration. We’re all human and we are all the same on the inside so the different views on how women of color feel pain are irrelevant and outdated. Our pain is justified and not something that should be brushed off.
- Sojourner Chief
This is the third of a four-part series. Click here to read the previous post – Say Her Name Too!
