LESSONS IN BLACK AND WHITE
IN 2016, MY WIFE, SADIQA, FOUND herself in an ambulance, its sirens blazing. Sadiqa had ridden in ambulances as a physician; never as a patient. Despite raising concerns during her pregnancy with a number of medical professionals, Sadiqa had been repeatedly ignored and reassured. She had a medical degree, had just turned 37 and worked in the same hospital that provided her maternal care. But education, social status, wealth, age, access to premium care – none of this can ensure that medical providers take the concerns of Black women seriously.
And yet the kind of premature birth Sadiqa was confronting really does constitute an emergency. She had been pregnant for only 24 weeks. When babies are delivered at 24 weeks, only about six in 10 survive in the US; among survivors, most have chronic health challenges.
Between 2018 and 2020, Black babies were the most likely to be born premature (14.2%), more likely than Native American babies (11.6%), Latinx babies (9.8%), white babies (9.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander babies (8.8%). Black infants account for 15% of the births in the US, and 29% of the infant deaths.
Similarly, in the UK, Black babies were the only ethnic group to see an increase in the rate of premature births between 2019 and 2020, and have the highest rates of stillbirth. The data is clear: racism is a mortal threat during pregnancy
