The Impact of Racism on Black Women's Health and Maternal Outcomes (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: MUSIC

Speaker 2: Five times more likely to die of cancer. It's horrifying. It's extraordinary.

Speaker 3: And we shouldn't have a situation like this. No. Time and time again, black women said to me they weren't listened to. You know, they had been in hospital, they'd had their babies, they didn't feel well and they were sent home and they had to be rushed back into hospital because, you know, there was something wrong. Now, they knew there was something wrong and they tried to tell, you know, the kind of health professionals that there was something wrong. But often they don't hear us, they don't listen to us. Her name was Delisa. She was 26 years old.

Speaker 1: She was having her first child. She loved children. She found out very early that she was having a little girl and that's what she really wanted. Delisa presented at the hospital the day before she died in a lot of pain. She was one centimetre dilated. They said that she's in early stages of cancer. The doctor that examined her said that, you know, the reason why the baby's head hadn't engaged was because black women's pelvises are different than white women's and so, therefore, the baby would not be engaged. Well, you know, as a mum, I found that really strange because I've had several children. I know the first child that you have, the baby's head engages in early labour. They said, you know, it's because the baby's head isn't engaged. Delisa went into full-blown labour in the early hours. We took her back to the hospital. She was nine centimetres when she got there. Delisa was rushed for an emergency caesarean and she did not recover from that caesarean. The cause of death was pregnancy, but there were errors in her care. If somebody had just listened to her, telling them that she wasn't feeling well, telling them that she was in pain, if they'd have just listened, I can't help thinking that it would have been different. As you say, people don't listen to us, people deny our reality, people... It makes people feel uncomfortable to have this conversation.

Speaker 2: But these conversations need to be had. Yeah, yeah, definitely, these conversations do need to be had.

Speaker 4: You know, I'm 55 years old and I'm quite ashamed that this is an issue

Speaker 2: that I've only just become aware of. It's shocking. Racism and discrimination plays a major role in the health outcomes of black people. Not only are we dealing with a biological pandemic, but the pandemic of racism is also affecting us, so we're sort of battling not just one virus, but two.