Racial Disparity in Birth | Bridging the Gap of Racial Tension in Birth

Today, we talk with RaSheda Williams, owner of Sincerely Yours Doula Services. We begin our discussion about racism and discrimination towards African American mothers in the birth space by sharing statistics, accounts, and personal experiences of black mothers having to deal with discrimination and racist treatment at the hands of medical professionals and other people. RaSheda talks about her own experiences. She shares how in all her births, she didn’t even know what a doula was, nor what her options were, and talks about how she became a doula with the intent to inform BIPOC who don’t receive adequate information to inform their choices in birth and postpartum recovery. We discuss potential measures the medical community can take to create equality and a greater awareness of racist attitudes and the effect they have in their practice.

“If We Don’t Know, We Can’t Do Better” -- Evidence of Racism 0:53
RaSheda’s Birth Experiences; Becoming a Doula 16:23
How Doulas Can Help 31:04
Steps Forward For the Medical Community 39:36

“Black women are 6 times more likely to die in childbirth, and shortly thereafter in postpartum, than their white and hispanic counterparts, even after adjusting for socioeconomic status. That means you’re more likely to die as a wealthy black woman in labor than a poor white woman.” 1:01

Reach Out To RaSheda: https://www.facebook.com/SheDaDoula/

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