(usartical) Many Black women say they have experienced doctors’ disregard or disdain. Mothers and infants may die as a result of the repercussions.
When a nurse checked the fetal heart rate of Shakima Tozay’s 37-year-old unborn child, who was six months pregnant, she called him “a hoodlum.”
Social worker Ms. Tozay froze. She is Black and had recently been admitted to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, due to pre-eclampsia, a potentially fatal pregnancy complication.
When a doctor entered the room, he played down the nurse’s remark, stating that Ms. Tozay was upset even more by it. She was upset already: After losing a previous twin pregnancy with her spouse, she is now
Remarks such as these, typically made at a time when black women are most vulnerable, are perceived by black women, who have two to three times the rate of pregnancy-related problems than white women, to be indicative of systemic racism in the medical field. When patients complain of symptoms, they say the medical staff ignores or minimizes their concerns. Research supports what they’ve experienced: Recorded talks between doctors and patients have been analyzed, and the results show that the doctors talk more authoritatively and ask less questions of Black patients than they do of White patients. Physicians are more likely to voice doubt regarding the symptoms reported by Black patients in their medical records.
The harsh reality that Black women have poorer pregnancy outcomes and lose more weight is looming over these encounters.
According to Sarah M. Wilson, an assistant professor at Duke University, the brain is programmed to make decisions rapidly. It makes advantage of cognitive shortcuts that allow bias to creep in, particularly when a person is unsure, worn out, or under stress—all of which are typical conditions in a busy clinic or hospital where doctors frequently treat patients they do not know.
Dr. Wilson stated that it is rather normal to rely on these automatic assumptions when faced with a complex issue requiring quick decision-making.
“They sent us ”
That night in 2017, Ms. Tozay was discharged from the hospital and placed on bed rest. Preterm birth, stillbirth, organ damage, and finally eclampsia—a violent seizure that can be fatal for both mother and child—are all possible outcomes of pre-eclampsia, a dangerous disease that results in abnormally high blood pressure.
Ms. Tozay’s blood pressure was closely monitored by her spouse, Glen Guss, who took regular readings using a cuff. After a few days, it began to rise sharply. When the top number, or systolic blood pressure, reaches 140 or higher, or the bottom number, or diastolic blood pressure, reaches 90 or higher, it is considered hypertension during pregnancy. According to Mr. Guss, one of Ms. Tozay’s systolic pressure measurements was in the 190s. Worried beyond belief, he drove her back to