need to stop seeing birth as a risk but as a life experience," I absolutely loved this quote.
The author gives so much information from her research that if you don't know about some of the subject matter it may be daunting.
I came into reading the book as a black birth worker and someone who is knowledgeable about medical racism, However, this book discusses medical racism within the premature birth sphere, The author wrote this book based on several years of research which included shadowing at several hospitals across the country, talking to mothers/parents whose child was born prematurely.
She also interviews several doctors on what their thoughts are on medical racism,
As I listened to this book I wondered how I/We in the birth worker community can change some of these outcomes and change medical racism.
It all feels like it can't be done until racism in this country is fixed, I am confident that we have radical black doulas and midwives that are working with the black and Latinx communities to change that narrative.
This book was essential in understanding Black premature births in America, Using the Black Mothers perspective in combination with a framework that seeks to understand medical racism in the context of the afterlife of slavery, this book provides a much needed quantitative and qualitative analysis of racialized birth.
What really stuck out to me was the emphasis placed on how economic status was an insufficient explanation of the high rates of premature birth rates in Black women, which further emphasized and clarified the separation of class.
Davis is a great writer and articulated her points extremely well, it was a very interesting read, This book makes me want to change careers,stars. A heartbreaking story of the racism women face when being pregnant and having their babies in the NICU,.
I dont know that Im the best judge of this book, Its very dense, which to me felt a little counterintuitive to bringing medical racism and reproductive injustice into focus for those of us laymen who want to address racism.
However, I took much away from this read, I found myself realizing that, in a lot of ways, addressing racism addresses myriad issues in our neoliberal society, where intervention is king and prevention is a sore in the backside of capitalism.
NICUs, ultrasounds, and other saving technologies are money makers, In much the same way medical providers deflect when asked to address racism, a grand veil has been pulled over the eyes of western humanity.
Is it so strange to want to have control over your birth I felt
extraordinary rage reading the stories in these pages.
The women who experienced medical racism from the antebellum period and on into the afterlife of slavery, Black women whose partners experienced racism in the delivery room, Black women who were punished for prioritizing natural birth over medicalization,
This is not a class issue, This is racism. Found in every nook and cranny, unaddressed and rampant, I love the idea presented near the end: when seeking medical care, place your emphasis on the care, We could all take something away from this read,
ACAB. Black births matter. And Black women and birthing people matter, So important and enlightening. A great look at medical racism and obstetric violence I highly recommend !! More than any contemporary piece on reproductive issues, I think this text really drives it home that its not about class or level of affluence that fuels Black women's disproportionate rate of pregnancyrelated deaths compared to white women.
Its about racism from a historically whitedominated, antiblack institution that has always viewed Black women as “intellectually inept, menacing, and generally incapable of mothering” since the time of their enslavement.
The resulting neglect, misdiagnosis, violation, and even death are things no mother or child should ever have to contend with.
If you doubt the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists statement that racial bias within the healthcare system is a contributor or that its even a factor at all, reading the narratives contained within this book will make your blood boil.
Medical racism is very real and must be addressed, Davis sheds light on the complex issue of prematurity as experienced by Black women, In Part, she shows how adverse birth outcomes disproportionately affect Black women in the Afterlife of Slavery by presenting statistics and sharing the birth stories of several Black mothers.
In Part, Davis provides insight into the strategies implemented to address prematurity and medical racism and critiques their success, Insightful and educational. This is a book that everyone needs to read, as it is wellresearched and gives indepth information on an issue that many of us think that we know about.
Trust me, you don't know half the story, I was shocked at some of the information that was presented, It breaks my heart to know that so many women are treated so unjustly, We need to do better as a Country and reading this book and becoming familiar with this issue is an excellent first step.
Such interesting and important topics, but challenging to read due to the academic style, Used this book for my intro to medical anthropology class, The author came to my campus for a book conversation and talk, My students enjoyed speaking to her, the advice she gave, and reading this book, An important book written by a Black woman using research conducted by Black women about Black women, Eye opening, detailed, sharp in her assessment of the medical industrial complex and the racist implications of the afterlife of slavery within the medical field.
This was required reading for my Sociology class, DanaAin Davis is an accomplished writer and Anthropologist, This was ayear journey as she tried to answer why black women aretox likely to have a premature birth.
Traveling to NICUs, interviewing, scientists, doctors, nurses, and parents, This book should be required reading for any class that is Sociology and truly want to know about how black women and children are suffering.
It is important to know how medical racism is thriving in this country, wow just wow. Dána did an amazing job at illustrating how socioeconomic status and education level don't serve as a buffer from medical racism being experienced by Black women.
i think it was also crucial of Dána to have prematurity be one of the books focal points, being that it is one of the leading causes of infant mortality amongst Black women.
such a wonderful book. i'm gearing up to become a doula and i would say this book is required reading for those interested in getting involved in birth work.
This is a well written, well researched account on the history of racism as it plays out in pregnancies and premature births.
Using historical research alongside personal accounts from people mostly women who have experienced various forms of racism during and after their pregnancies.
I recommend for anyone who is interested in this subject, Note: this is more like a textbook, so keep that in mind, Winner,Senior Book Prize, given by the Association of Feminist Anthropology
Winner,Eileen Basker Memorial Prize, given by the Society for Medical Anthropology
Honorable Mention,Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing, given by the Society for Humanistic Anthropology
Finalist,PROSE Award in the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology category, given by the Association of American Publishers
A troubling study of the role that medical racism plays in the lives of black women who have given birth to premature and low birth weight infants
Black women have higher rates of premature birth than other women in America.
This cannot be simply explained by economic factors, with poorer women lacking resources or access to care, Even professional, middleclass black women are at a much higher risk of premature birth than lowincome white women in the United States.
DnaAin Davis looks into this phenomenon, placing racial differences in birth outcomes into a historical context, revealing that ideas about reproduction and race today have been influenced by the legacy of ideas which developed during the era of slavery.
While poor and lowincome black women are often the "mascots" of premature birth outcomes, this book focuses on professional black women, who are just as likely to give birth prematurely.
Drawing on an impressive array of interviews with nearly fifty mothers, fathers, neonatologists, nurses, midwives, and reproductive justice advocates, DnaAin Davis argues that events leading up to an infant's arrival in a neonatal intensive care unit NICU, and the parents' experiences while they are in the NICU, reveal subtle but pernicious forms of racism that confound the perceived class dynamics that are frequently understood to be a central factor of premature birth.
The book argues not only that medical racism persists and must be considered when examining adverse outcomesas well as upsetting experiences for parentsbut also that NICUs and lifesaving technologies should not be the only strategies for improving the outcomes for black pregnant women and their babies.
Davis makes the case for other avenues, such as communitybased birthing projects, doulas, and midwives, that support women during pregnancy and labor are just as important and effective in avoiding premature births and mortality.
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