Policies and new measures have been changing swiftly since President Biden and Vice President Harris have settled into office, and one of the next things on the VP’s list is the maternal mortality crisis that Black women are facing every single day. In an open letter via Blavity, Kamala Harris pledges her support to Black women all over the United States who are not being heard by medical professionals and are losing their lives because of it.
While speaking with women who have had traumatic experiences during their pregnancies, VP Harris discovered that many Black women are not being supported by medical professionals, nor are they being heard or believed. She notes that Black women die of pregnancy related deaths at three times the rate of other women, and advocated for Maternal Review Committees to get answers from healthcare providers about every step of a woman’s pregnancy.
“Every woman has the right to ask questions of their healthcare provider through every step of a pregnancy,” Harris wrote. “Keep a notebook and a list of questions. Doctors are there to take care of you. It is their job to answer your questions. If they are doing their job correctly, they will always take the time to carefully go through each question with you.”
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VP Harris went on to speak about implicit bias in the medial field, and how it contributes to the large number of fatalities in Black women who are pregnant.
“I’ve heard countless stories of women telling their doctors they were experiencing pain, only to be ignored,” she wrote. “Stories of women trying to talk about their postpartum depression, only to be dismissed and sent home. In the medical field, implicit bias is why Black women can speak up and still not be heard.”
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