Intervention 2 Paul

 

 Bigotry is ingrained in almost every part of American institutions. It’s been there for so long that it’s compounded in; most wouldn’t recognize the implicit bias. One of the most concerning is the institutionalized racism is in the Medical field. With the scientific advancement and how important the area it would not have implicit bias. An old rumor stems from doctors performing horrible experiments on slaves that black people have a higher pain sensitivity to others. The University of Virginia surveyed its medical students; out of 400, about 222 believe that black people don’t feel pain the same as others, which proved to be false. So how can an outdated and unproven rumor based on racism still be believed to be true? 

It has been documented that sometimes Black and POC often get their medical concerns ignored by medical personnel. Perhaps the most disturbing and underreported trend is how many black mothers often die from childbirth or suffer from complications during and after the childbirth process. According to the CDC, black mothers in the U.S die at 3 to four times the rate of white mothers, which is one of the most significant racial disparities in the field. To put into other terms, black women are 22% more likely to die from heart disease than white women, 71% likely to die from cervical cancer, but 243% possible to die from childbirth and pregnancy-related causes. In a national study of 5 common causes of maternal death and injury, black women and 2-3 more likely to die than white women who had the same condition. In the state of New York, black mothers are 12 more likely to die of childbirth. 

 I choose to write on this matter because it is an urgent matter that needs to rectify immediately. Growing up in Nigeria, we had nurses and midwives in the family. They regularly helped deliver babies for those who couldn’t afford proper medical care. From what I remember, there was barely any complication that leads to death, so how come the so-called best country in the world, black women, are dying at an alarming rate?. 

Medical racism needs to fix; the implicit bias amongst doctors and medical personnel needs to be rectified. These are just the recently recommended cases. It unimaginable pain so many black women have faced and will continue to face if this issue isn’t taken seriously and fixed anytime soon.