Sha-Asia Washington
A young, healthy woman named She-Asia Williams went into Woodhull Hospital in NYC to give birth to her daughter. Her partner and her baby left the hospital, Sha-Asia did not. To say that my heart was ripped wide open on learning of her murder is putting it lightly. The fact that this woman was left untreated for high blood pressure (Preeclampsia ) for 2 days is beyond regular medical negligence. Her death was entirely preventable. Some of you may be asking what could have been done, or how we can prevent the horrific maternal outcomes for Black women and Black people who give birth. And I don't have all of the answers, but I have some thoughts and theories.
The hospital system that most folks give birth is rooted in white supremacy, bias, patriarchy, and racism. These aren't my opinions, they are facts. We've already discussed the history of gynecology in this country, we know that medicine in this country was exclusively for white men and medicine continues to be dominated by white men. In addition to that, we each hold our own biases, prejudices, and yes racism. This informs who we are and the work we do. But if your work is literally holding the lives of human beings in your hands, bias and racism need to be addressed. In addition to the problems of the medical-industrial complex, is the uneven hierarchy of patients and their doctors. Most doctors see themselves as the experts and most patients (myself included until very recently) took what my doctors said about my body as truth. What do they know about my body, about me, about my life, about my past that I don't know? Nothing. They see what they want to see and what they want to see is often biased. This is especially true for Black people, especially Black people who have white providers. So the playing field is already uneven. Coupled with poor prenatal care, most people who go into their birth are unprepared and unaware of their rights as a patient. So we are literally putting our trust and our lives in the hands of providers who may or may not truly have our best interest in mind. Still with me? We're going deeper.
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