Posted on Apr 4, 2023
Native, Black doulas say culturally specific birth care could help reduce high maternal death...
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After Jazmin Williams gave birth in 2009, she suffered from uterine prolapse — when the uterus slips out of place.
But when she tried to tell the nurse, she said, “I’m trying to point to her [that] my uterus is outside me, and she hits me. She hits my hand, tells me, ‘Don’t touch.’ And I go and tell the doctor but she tells the doctor that I’m exaggerating. And that was it.”
They didn’t evaluate or treat her condition.
She went home, where she developed a second complication and had to be rushed back to the hospital, where she was seen by an ER doctor.
“He just told me to lay back so he could see what was going on and then immediately just started operating,” Williams said.
Williams said he didn’t tell her what he was about to do, obtain her consent, or offer anesthesia.
But when she tried to tell the nurse, she said, “I’m trying to point to her [that] my uterus is outside me, and she hits me. She hits my hand, tells me, ‘Don’t touch.’ And I go and tell the doctor but she tells the doctor that I’m exaggerating. And that was it.”
They didn’t evaluate or treat her condition.
She went home, where she developed a second complication and had to be rushed back to the hospital, where she was seen by an ER doctor.
“He just told me to lay back so he could see what was going on and then immediately just started operating,” Williams said.
Williams said he didn’t tell her what he was about to do, obtain her consent, or offer anesthesia.
Native, Black doulas say culturally specific birth care could help reduce high maternal death...
Posted from kuow.org
Native Americans
Pregnancy
State of Washington
Seattle
Racism
Posted 1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."That’s something Jazmin Williams is working on: a culturally specific birth center for her community. Following her own traumatic childbirth, she became a doula, to help other Black women have more positive birth experiences.
Now, Williams is trying to open Washington’s first Black birth center to provide an alternative to hospitals — for women giving birth, and also for Black traditional midwives who don’t have the certifications they need to work in hospitals.
“We have to find a way to divert from hospital care,” Williams said. “We need our own place that’s not a shared space either so we can be here and be ourselves without white gaze, without the worry of, ‘I'm no longer holding up to the strong Black woman stereotype and wanting to be vulnerable,’ wanting to feel weak in the moment and receive the support that they need. We need to be allowed to do that.”
She’s eyeing South King County for a location — somewhere in the heart of the area’s Black community."
..."That’s something Jazmin Williams is working on: a culturally specific birth center for her community. Following her own traumatic childbirth, she became a doula, to help other Black women have more positive birth experiences.
Now, Williams is trying to open Washington’s first Black birth center to provide an alternative to hospitals — for women giving birth, and also for Black traditional midwives who don’t have the certifications they need to work in hospitals.
“We have to find a way to divert from hospital care,” Williams said. “We need our own place that’s not a shared space either so we can be here and be ourselves without white gaze, without the worry of, ‘I'm no longer holding up to the strong Black woman stereotype and wanting to be vulnerable,’ wanting to feel weak in the moment and receive the support that they need. We need to be allowed to do that.”
She’s eyeing South King County for a location — somewhere in the heart of the area’s Black community."
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