How do we get the health care we deserve? Black women are 3 to 5 times more likely to die during childbirth than white women. 25% of Black women between 18 to 30 have fibroids, but the research funding stays lacking!
These disparities aren’t new. Black women have always been mistreated by America’s healthcare system.
James Marion Sims was the white doctor who “invented” gynecology. He forced enslaved Black women to undergo invasive, violent procedures so he could study them. And they weren’t given pain medication because Sims believed they couldn’t feel pain!
But we persevered. Sims made enslaved Black women his surgical assistants for some procedures – and these women obtained useful knowledge, which they brought back to plantations.
Fusing this knowledge with their own they became doulas, creating childbirth care practices so enslaved pregnant women wouldn’t deal with doctors like Sims.
Today, sisters and doctors Dr. Shamolie Wyckoff and Dr. Elita Wyckoff Jones continue this tradition of information-sharing.
“With Ease, Navigating the Medical Office Visit” is their new book – a powerful resource to help patients establish positive relationships and boundaries with doctors.
The book helps patients to “take charge of their medical care, to be informed and armed with insight.”
This powerful resource is crucial – we must advocate for ourselves when it comes to health care. The system won’t do it for us!