Why diversity in maternal health is important
CHARLOTTE, N.C (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Black women are three times more likely to die during childbirth than white women. In recent years, more healthcare professionals have been speaking out about how to improve outcomes for women.
Dr. Portia Cohens, Dr. Keenya Little and Dr. Monica Washington are OBGYNs at Atrium Health Women’s Care North Charlotte. They’re all familiar with the recent stories of celebrities like Serena Williams, Allyson Felix and others who had traumatic birth experiences. Their stories shed light on disturbing data that shows Black women are three times more likely to die in pregnancy compared to white women.
“We have to start looking at what’s really going on and it’s the implicit bias and racial disparities that exist between Black women and women of other ethnicities,” Dr. Portia Cohens, OBGYN at Atrium Health, said. “It’s a systemic thing that roots back historical from slavery to Jim Crow up until now.”
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Dr. Little says systemic racism makes some women more prone to underlying conditions that could complicate pregnancy.
“If you think about the ocean and how it pounds against the shore, it erodes away at the land. So, the same with the experiences of racism over a lifetime,” Dr. Little said. “It starts to erode away at [the] health and well-being of minorities. I think that then predisposes us to high blood pressure, diabetes, cancers, obesity, depression, and asthma.”
Data shows the wealthiest, most educated Black women in America have worse health outcomes than the poorest, least educated white women in America.
“I myself grew up in a pretty middle- to upper-class place and honestly, I did not feel any safer than any patient that I’ve taken care of in terms of my own obstetric journey,” Dr. Monica Washington, OBGYN at Atrium Health, said. “I knew that. I knew what was going on. I knew that I would be well taken care of, but honestly, I was just as scared as any patient walking in.”
J Marion Sims from Lancaster, South Carolina, is considered the father of modern gynecology. He performed experiments on enslaved women without anesthesia in 1849. His picture hangs on the wall of Dr. Ngina Connors’ office. She is the chair of the OBGYN department at Atrium Health.
“We have this burden, and we have this responsibility to address inequities, whether in health care or just social interactions,” Dr. Conners said. “I think the disparities happen because of the history of racism, the history that this country was founded on and so, it’s been woven into the fabric of the country.”
Dr. Connors says doctors at Atrium are aware of the global issue and working to address it.
Dr. Ngina Connors, Chair of OBGYN, Atrium Health, said. “Just knowing that across the country, this is an issue, we have to assume is an issue here as well. We’re not immune from the rest of what the country is experiencing. And so just having that at the forefront of what we do [is], you know, implicit bias training. I do lectures for medical students and residents on health equity.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, about 11% of OBGYNs identify as Black and even fewer are women. Studies have shown a diverse healthcare workforce leads to improved outcomes for patients.
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“When we go through the selection process to choose residents for a program, we value diversity and that diversity can be race and ethnicity, it can be just lived experiences, economic diversity,” Dr. Connors said. “So, we really are intentional about trying to recruit diverse classes.”
Atrium Health also launched mobile medical units in Mecklenburg, Union and Anson counties, giving patients care closer to home.
R.I.S.E Atrium Community Doula Program connects Black women with doulas as a guide before, during and after pregnancy.
Doctors say they also encourage patients to work alongside health professionals to create an outlook better than the current reality.
“If you feel like the person that is giving you direct care is not listening to you or providing what you need you can always go up to the charge nurse or another doctor or the chair of the department,” Dr. Cohens said. “Most hospitals have a line that you can reach out to for patient advocacy.”
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