Heartbreaking stories of Black maternal deaths, pregnancy complications, racism related at hearing

WASHINGTON — When U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri was pregnant with her first child, Zion, she saw a sign in her doctor’s office encouraging her to speak up about anything unusual she was feeling.

She did so, telling her physician that she was having severe pains, but her concerns were swiftly dismissed. The doctor told Bush, who is African American, that she was fine and sent her home — and one week later, Bush went into early labor.

“At 23 weeks, my son was born, one pound, three ounces,” Bush told a congressional hearing Thursday on Black maternal mortality. “His ears were still in his head. His eyes were still fused shut. His fingers were smaller than rice, and his skin was translucent, a Black baby, translucent.”

Bush recalled that the doctor who delivered her son apologized for not listening to her.

But when she was pregnant with her second child, she faced the same situation. She again went into early labor, and a different doctor refused to help her, telling Bush in a clear reference to her race: “You can get pregnant again, because that’s what you people do.”

Read more: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021/05/07/heartbreaking-stories-of-black-maternal-deaths-pregnancy-complications-racism-related-at-hearing/