For many women, pregnancy is an extremely difficult and emotional time, physically and mentally. It can also be very confusing, as pregnancy can come with many complications and unexpected outcomes. Because of this, one would assume that society and the medical system in the United States would treat these women with respect and care, but for many women, specifically Black women, this is not the case.
In the United States, racism is still very much in existence. It undermines almost everything in the country, from going out to eat at a restaurant to going to the hospital in life-threatening situations. While acts of discrimination targeting people of color have been widely reported, pregnant Black women are three times more likely to die when compared to their white counterparts.
Over the past two years, the United States government has made it a point to show their lack of enthusiasm when it comes to protecting the rights of women in the United States, demonstrated by the overturning of Roe V. Wade. This was a huge infringement on women’s rights in America, making it very clear that the Supreme Court is willing to sacrifice the lives of many women to uphold their own corrupted views of how the world should look. While the overturn was an act of discrimination against women of all races in the U.S., there is more to be acknowledged regarding Black women’s experiences.
According to “Black Pregnant Women: ‘Get the Most Judgement’: A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Black Woman at the Intersection of Race, Gender and Pregnancy,” Black pregnant women are said to experience heightened “racialized pregnancy stigma,” which in turn devalues Black motherhood. These women reported they were assumed to have low incomes, single marital status and multiple children despite their socioeconomic class or marital status. This is not something that happens to white women. Why is this? Because the existence of white women has never been threatened by preconceived notions and assumptions about their existence because of the color of their skin.
This is just one example of the way society views and treats Black pregnant women and the differences women of color experience on a daily basis; it highlights the acceptance and normality of bias regarding race, gender and pregnancy not only in everyday life, but in less common emotional and stressful situations, like labor and childbirth.
Unfortunately, many people have found a way to ignore the existence of racism and discrimination in the U.S. Most of these people deny the existence of racism because they never gained the ability to conceptualize the fact that the world does not revolve around them. What these people lack is the ability to think rationally, put themselves in others’ shoes and to think about the individual experiences that may — and do — come along with living in a world that was built to work against you.
The United States has done a very idle job in uplifting Black voices and making it a point to share a variety of experiences living in the United States. This is a problem that has resulted in death, not only in pregnant women, but in innocent people of color everywhere. This needs to be put to an end by combining voices, opinions and experiences and making it known that the people of the country are not okay with its current condition.
