live_tv
Livestream Starting Soon
00
Hours
:
00
Minutes
:
00
Seconds
Up next in 10
#blackwomen #blackexcellence #pregnency
If you like our videos, pitch into our Crowdfunding efforts to grow our operations! https://ifundwomen.com/projects/sharing-empowering-unique-black-stories
Black women in the United States are 3-4x more likely to die from child birth and pregnancy related causes than other races, according to the CDC.
Why is pregnancy killing black women?
This important short documentary talks to black women who lost babies, had difficult pregnancies, pre-mature births, and dangerous birthing experiences.
OURS is a new series that focus on problems and solutions that are, well, ours! Don't forget to subscribe to get notification of new videos!
BlackExcellence.com is a digital platform dedicated to empowering excellence everyday through sharing thought provoking, informative, entertaining, and noteworthy stories in the global black community.
Website: https://blackexcellence.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BExcelOnline
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackexcell...
FB: https://www.facebook.com/BExcelOnline/
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
So I didn't know that this was very prevalent in our community, but then like I told my aunt
0:04
she's like, that happened to me too. I told my mom, she's like, that happened to me too. I started to tell my best friends, that happened to me too. And I'm like, wow, this is crazy. I
0:12
mean, it was literally, the statistic is one in four, but in the people that I was telling
0:17
as a black woman, it was more like three in four and sometimes four in four
0:30
It's surreal to me that I've crossed over into my 30s and the thought of having kids is slowly entering my mind
0:38
Pregnancy, babies, preschools, carpools, college savings. As these thoughts creeped into my mind, few headlines caught my attention
0:54
The U.S. has one of the highest pregnancy mortality rates in the developed world
0:59
And for Black women, that rate is often three to four times higher
1:05
As an article on ProPublica put it, a Black woman is 22% more likely to die from heart disease than a white woman
1:12
71% more likely to die from cervical cancer, but a staggering 243% more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes
1:22
I didn't even know this problem existed, let alone at these mind-blowing rates
1:26
Shocked by what I was finding out, I reached out to Black women on social media
1:30
Within a few minutes of posting, I got my first hit. All right. I'm Latoya Samantha Leydig. I go by Samantha most of the time
1:38
I'm an author and birth doula. We connected when I was looking for somebody to speak to about this issue
1:44
Pregnancy killing Black women. You had a very difficult pregnancy. Yes. Levi was born two years ago
1:50
he was due in March he was due on March 8th and I delivered him on November 25th
2:00
oh whoa how is that possible yeah so got pregnant via IUI
2:07
and everything was fine my doctor my reproductive endocrinologist out of Virginia he was like okay
2:14
so you've had these two issues but mind you before I got pregnant with Levi I did like every test you
2:19
can do like everyone and he came back and he was like there's nothing wrong with you we can't find
2:24
anything wrong with your uterus we can't find anything wrong with your cervix we can't find
2:28
anything wrong with your you know your chromosomes like it's not genetic so everything was good
2:33
everything was fine he was like there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to carry a baby to full
2:37
term and I'm sitting there and I'm just feeling a lot of pain on the sides and I was like I'm
2:42
gonna go to Dr. Gump so I went the next day and she's like it's around ligament pain everybody
2:48
has it. It hurts. Deal with it. Like a week or two goes by. Same
2:54
thing, but it felt more intense. Like it felt different. Didn't feel like, okay, my hips hurt. It felt like contractions
3:00
We got to the hospital and because I'm not like doubled over in pain and like
3:05
him and her and the nurses were like, okay, well you need to go fill out the paperwork
3:09
And I was like, I'm not doing that. I'm telling you something is happening. Like I'm not going
3:14
anywhere. Like you need to put me in a room ASAP. So they did
3:18
And as soon as they gave me the gown and told me to change it out, I looked at my panties and there was blood
3:24
So I was like, here we go. Right. So they called my doctor. She came. She said, you have to have the baby
3:33
I went to see him in the NICU at Hollywood Presbyterian. And I was like, this is that's him. I mean, I couldn't believe it
3:43
Like, he was tiny. I can show you pictures in a minute. But he was, like, he was 1 pound 15 ounces
3:49
So he was, like, this big. So when I was 28 years old, I became pregnant
3:54
It was my first child. I was living with my boyfriend. Not a lot of money
4:00
I had just transitioned careers. And I, you know, very excited, very scared
4:07
And I told myself, you know, I'm going to get the best care possible. I'm getting ready to go to Beverly Hills
4:11
I'm going to go to the best, you know, I'm going to go to the hospital where Beyonce and them go
4:16
Well, I don't think Beyonce had her baby at this time. But where all the stars go and I'm going to get the best care possible
4:22
So I went over there, I did that, and I immediately began to feel like othered
4:26
When I would go to the doctor, I felt myself being rushed out. I felt all my concerns about what was happening to me, which was like a lot of spotting, a lot of pain
4:37
and just something intuitively letting me know that something is not right with my pregnancy
4:42
I just, you know, watch myself be ignored in hindsight now that I know what I know working in this organization and getting the experience that I have
4:50
So at six months, I went into a premature labor. I was hurting in the bathroom, the same pains I've been having the whole time
4:57
And hearing my doctor's voice saying, nothing's wrong. Like, you're OK. This pain is fine
5:01
And then when I tried to go get back into the bed, my water broke. We rushed to the hospital
5:07
I had to deliver the baby. but of course it was a stillborn baby
5:10
considered a stillborn even how early it was in my pregnancy six months When I found out I was pregnant I was 21 I was at the end of my junior year at Florida Agricultural Mechanical University
5:22
And I found out I was pregnant and six months within my pregnancy, I found out that I was having
5:30
twins and that one of my twins had an umphalus. I ended up having them at 27 weeks
5:40
They were, one was two pounds, eight ounces. The other one was two pounds, 15 ounces, three pounds
5:50
All the stories I heard were similar. Difficult pregnancies with none to minor previous health issues
5:56
and responsive medical professionals that ignored the concerns of the mothers and lack of knowledge on the resources available
6:03
to make the pregnancy and birthing process go smoother. NPR collected stories from 200 Black mothers and found out that, quote
6:12
the feeling of being devalued and disrespected by medical providers was a constant theme
6:20
Contrary to the assumption, this issue does not only affect poor and uneducated Black women
6:26
Recently, Serena Williams has been in the news for experiencing a very difficult birthing process
6:33
In interviews following her experience, she spoke about this issue that affects so many women in our community, regardless of class and access
6:41
The Queen of the Courts is revealing the dramatic story behind the birth of her daughter and life as a new mom
6:47
Williams saying she had to deliver baby Olympia by emergency C-section in September
6:52
saying the moment her new daughter was laid on her chest was an amazing feeling and then everything went bad
6:58
After feeling short of breath, a CT scan revealed that Williams had a pulmonary embolism and other blood clots, which set off coughing fits that burst her C-section incision
7:10
She then had to have additional surgery to correct and prevent more clots from forming
7:18
Serena was lucky enough to survive, but a countless number of black women were not
7:28
But why is pregnancy killing black women
7:40
Previously, we used to always say that the reason why black women are losing their babies was
7:44
and this was very racist and we didn't learn until now, we believe what we were being told, was that it was because we're drinking, we're smoking, we're not getting prenatal care
7:53
we're eating horribly. Some of those things are still true, but what the research is saying now is
7:58
No, because vegan black women are having these problems. The PhD women losing their babies at higher rates than white women are probably mine
8:05
All types of black women are having these problems. So what is the common variable here? And it's racism
8:10
It's discrimination. It's stress. And most of that stress is race related or environmentally related, which sometimes goes right back to racism
8:20
And we don't we felt ashamed to continue to use that word and almost blame it on that
8:25
But we can't run away from the truth if we want to save Black babies and Black mothers
8:31
Although this issue is widespread, the numbers show that Texas has one of the highest mortality rates for women of color in relation to pregnancy
8:40
We follow up to find out why and what's being done about it. Our first stop was at the office of state representative Sean Theory
8:48
So you have a personal experience in this. Do you mind sharing that with us
8:53
Yes, I had a very normal pregnancy throughout. I was considered a little bit of an older mom
9:00
because I was over 40. So I knew that there were some risks associated with that. Anytime you're
9:06
over 35, they'll say it's somewhat of a high risk. At that time, I had not heard the maternal
9:11
mortality statistics. I didn't even know there was such a praise really. So I knew that there
9:16
was a risk, but I certainly didn't know that I was three times, three to six times, depending on
9:21
you live more likely to die just by virtue during pregnancy by virtue of being a black woman
9:27
So I had a relatively normal pregnancy. I didn't have any of the typical
9:31
scare factors like preeclampsia, eclampsia, or hypertension. However, when I went into labor
9:39
there was a problem with the epidural. And I've learned now that that's something that
9:44
needs to be more discussion about that I got what's called a high block epidural
9:50
which is where they put it in the wrong place in your spine and it can paralyze your heart
9:55
and so the medicine was moving upward into my heart and so versus numbing me uh below oh and
10:03
so very quickly I realized I couldn't breathe and I felt like I was having a heart attack
10:08
and um it took me advocating for myself and really really demanding something be done
10:16
through the team that was in the labor room, and essentially ended up saving my own life
10:22
So tell us a little bit about the legislation you worked so hard to pass
10:27
That was pun intended a labor of love It took a very long time When I first came into the 85th legislative session in Texas a report came across my desk and it addressed the maternal morbidity and mortality rates in Texas
10:43
And I happened to pick it up and read it. And that's when I first found out that the most glaring statistic was that African-American women were dying at alarming rates
10:51
But women overall in Texas were facing a lot of struggles. And so I did some research and I noticed that we needed legislation to address this issue
11:02
So I drafted a bill. The first one I drafted was specifically targeted for African-American women because I knew they were the group that was most at risk
11:09
And it was to ask our task force to drill down further and really look at what was causing these numbers to climb so high and to make some recommendations
11:18
It asked them to look at socioeconomic factors, best practices in other states that have brought their numbers down
11:31
Surviving childbirth does not always mean a mother is out of their danger zone
11:36
Research shows that Black women are twice as likely to suffer from postpartum depression
11:41
but money tells stories of medical professionals that never fall up with them on this important matter
11:46
I just told a story recently publicly about this. And for everyone listening, I encourage women to tell their stories because it helps others
11:56
Absolutely. It just hit me in my work in this that, you know, I never heard from my OBGYN again
12:02
Even after that whole traumatic experience, they never called me back once to come back to the office
12:08
They never checked on me. I mean, he never checked to see how I was doing. At the time, I didn't even really know what postpartum was
12:15
I knew that I was depressed. I knew that because I felt like my whole life was just like crumbling
12:22
So I knew that I was depressed. I was I was very unclear on the ways of how to get help
12:31
It was never, you know, when you go for your six weeks appointment, I don't recall being asked, are you depressed
12:39
are you going through anything? That was like, that was tough because I really didn't know how
12:45
to process it. And I think that if I would have went to see someone at that time
12:50
the first year of them being home, I believe, would have been handled a lot differently
12:57
I would have been well aware of what I'm feeling. The number of organizations working to save the
13:02
lives of Black mothers is growing. One is starting up right here in Austin. A Healing Hands Community
13:08
Dula Project is an organization that I'm starting as a non-profit to address maternal mortality
13:16
In Travis County, we have fairly significant maternal mortality amongst Black women. We are
13:23
dying at three to four times the rate of women of other races and ethnicities surrounding pregnancy
13:30
Given that we're only about 5% of the population, but we have like 30% of the deaths
13:37
It's a little staggering. Why are DULAs so important in this mission
13:43
Well, I mean, I, well, personal opinion is that because of the way the health care system works
13:51
and because of the biases that exist against Black women, my kind of personal mantra is no Black woman should go into a hospital out of room
14:02
You know, and people say, oh, that's kind of harsh. I said, but I can't tell you the number of times I've gone in and a woman's like laboring or something and they're asking her questions that have nothing to do with like her labor
14:13
Like, well, where's, you know, is this baby's father the same as your other children's father
14:17
It's like that is not pertinent while she's in the middle of a contraction or, you know, she's in labor and trying to get checked in and they're trying to drug test her
14:26
I'm like, what are you doing? so for black women it's important that somebody's there that can advocate what you know who's not in
14:38
the middle of a contraction whose legs aren't up in lathotomy position or what have you
14:42
Texas I've read Texas has one of the higher in the country yes we do what's causing that
14:50
what's happening in Texas well let's see let's start with we have the highest number of uninsured
14:57
people here. We are one of, I can't remember the number of states that did not take Medicaid
15:03
expansion under the Affordable Care Act. So many people who would have benefited from having access
15:10
to Medicaid don't. We have poor Medicaid reimbursement. We have a number, the vast number
15:20
now of women's health clinics closing or being closed, being defunded such that they then have
15:26
to close. At the end of our interview, Darlene informed me of other organizations that have
15:34
been in the fight for much longer than she has. So the organization's Great Beginnings for Black
15:44
Babies our mission is to put a big dent in the infant mortality disparities that we have As you know Black women lose their babies at two times higher rate than any other racial ethnic group In Los Angeles County that three times
15:58
I'm brought to this work because I'm a part of this statistic. I also used to be a client here
16:04
And in that, I just really wanted to be more involved and got here and just to continue
16:08
to do this work to kind of just combat the disparities that we have
16:13
Because it's not just infant mortality. You know, it's maternal mortality and it's also low birth weight and prematurity
16:20
We have the same statistics in each of those categories. So it's really a public health crisis
16:25
And that's why we're here. So what's the solution to this national health crisis
16:35
So what I think needs to happen in order to address the disparities that we have of infant mortality
16:42
and Black maternal mortality is, one, educating ourselves. Again, like I said, when I knew that I should be advocating for myself
16:53
no matter what this person's education was like or what their title was
16:57
that was a lifesaver for my son. So that has to happen first. So that's the work we do
17:01
That's the work that we hope, you know, you all will be able to do with this story
17:06
And that's, like, most important. The second thing we need to do is call a spade a spade
17:10
We have to start saying racism is killing our babies. You know, stress is killing our babies
17:17
And a lot of the stress is tied to racism. We have to call it what it is. I remember even when I got my sonogram, it was, it ended up not being the most memorable, happy experience
17:27
I was so curious if I was going to have a girl or a boy. And that's a highlight in a mom's life
17:33
And I remember going in and the doctor clicked on the screen and he said, head, shoulders, knees, toes, nothing in between
17:40
it's a girl, buy something pink. And he clicked the screen off. I'm having a girl
17:43
And I prayed for a little girl. And I said, wait, what
17:48
And he clicked it back on. And he said, head, shoulders, knees, foot, toes
17:54
nothing in between. Go buy something pink. He did it again. The number one thing I want to say is
17:59
if you're not comfortable with your doctor, find another doctor. If you're not comfortable with that doctor
18:05
find another doctor. Don't apologize. Absolutely. You know, it's not the time where you have to just be polite
18:11
You know, it can make the difference. You're fighting for your life. I would say get a doula if you can
18:15
Some people can't afford a doula. And so maybe you just need that person, but you need support
18:20
Try your best to stay free of stress. So if anything is stressing you out, I mean, I know that we're really strong, our culture
18:31
Like, we are strong women. And so oftentimes we try to push through things and certain things that we don't have to deal with
18:40
We deal with it because we put that in the category of, oh, we're strong, but you don't have to
18:48
So if there's anything that is stressing you out, free yourself from it, you know, and your unborn child or even your child after it's born will experience the same things
18:58
I would tell a black woman that's expecting a baby to, first of all, don't be unaware of the fact that you are a black woman. Period. Period. Period. Every time you walk in the doctor's office, I don't care if it's a, whatever, you're a black woman. Be very clear and concise as to what it is that you want. Be very on top of what you want and how you want it done. Because they will throw your opinion on what it is that you want, your suggestions under the rug as though what you're saying isn't important
19:28
So you read the names of mothers who passed away during childbirth at the special session
19:40
What was that experience like knowing what you went through personally? It was very emotional
19:46
And one of the reasons is beyond what I went through, I really got to know the families of some of these women that passed away
19:54
And we brought them, I talked to them on the phone. I brought them to the capitol
19:59
And so they kind of became my extended family. And so people don't realize when the mom passes away and the baby's still there, who's raising the child
20:07
And this, a lot of times, isn't the mom's only child. So they're leaving behind other children
20:12
So we met grandparents, Ms. Kreutzer, Ms. Perkins, and others. And I wanted people to know by calling out their names that these, like I said, were real moms, real faces
20:26
and it's not just statistics, numbers. That is why I did that
20:31
People can get caught up in percentages and you don't realize these were real women
20:38
I mean, you call their names and we put together a beautiful collage of all their faces
20:42
and you see the just beautiful women. I mean, some of them were dancing and laughing
20:47
Some were in the military. You know, you see them with their other children
20:52
You realize, wow, this woman is gone. And what the data shows us is that most of these deaths are preventable
#Public Health
#Reproductive Health
#Women's Health
#Discrimination & Identity Relations
#Infertility