Photo by Andrae Ricketts on Unsplash
Code Switch's recent podcast highlights maternal death and the impact of weathering from racial stress on black and brown mothers and birthing people along with their need to be constantly vigilant in a racist world, as well as how racism impacts black and brown folks' concerns and symptoms being taken seriously. Half of maternal deaths happen in the postpartum period...You've probably seen the recent story of Serena Williams [...]...as so many studies have shown, education and income levels don't mitigate the negative influence of racism when it comes to poor outcomes for babies and birthing people of color.
What many of these powerful stories and podcasts and articles don't highlight, is how there already is a model of care that serves families for the entire childbearing year and that recognizes that birth is just the beginning and where a cornerstone of the care is to LISTEN TO WOMEN. MIDWIFERY!!! Fourth trimester (the first three months after birth) care is basically non-existent for the 90% of people who get mainstream obstetrical care in this country. Postpartum care for the mother-baby/parent-baby unit is such a huge part of my work as a midwife, it is infuriating that this care isn't valued or supported for new mothers and parents and their babies in our culture. We need to change that, especially for families of color, and that is going to be the focus of my professional work and advocacy and organizing/activist work as a midwife/mother/human in the coming months and years. More on that coming soon...