Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 12:44 PM
Durham, North Carolina – The conversation about black maternal health is back in the national spotlight after the US Olympic champion sprinter Torey Boy died of complications from childbirth.
Brittany Turner recalled: “I was in pain. I was invisible and no one was listening to me.”
Raleigh’s mother had miscarriages four times and was worried she would lose her son as well. She said the doctors did not take her pain seriously when she was in labour.
“There was no urgency or concern until someone put something on me and saw that my baby and my body were in distress. Then they believed me,” she said.
According to North Carolina’s BlueCross BlueShield, the Tar Heel State has the 11th highest infant mortality rate in the country. Black, American Indian, and Hispanic babies are 2.4 times more likely to die in their first year of life. People born black have the highest maternal mortality rate in the country and are 3 to 4 times more likely to die in childbirth.
Equity report for television stations owned by ABC It was found to have twice the black population and six times the Hispanic population You do not have health insurance in the Raleigh and Durham metro areas compared to the white population.
“These disparities and health concerns or increased health burdens occur for black women regardless of our economic status,” said Dr. Keisha Bentley-Edwards of the Samuel Dubois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University.
Experts describe maternal and child mortality as a public health crisis. Edwards has shared critical solutions in the form of doulas and advocated for women she believes can help turn the tide.
“They’re like, ‘Why do we keep bringing out all this bad news? It’s because the news hasn’t changed. We need to keep talking about it so we can get those numbers down,'” she said.
Today, Turner’s youngest son Brayden is almost two years old. While she would like more children, she is not willing to put up with them.
“We should not lose our lives and our children because no one listens to us,” she said.
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