World News

22059 readers

14 users here now

Breaking news from around the world.

News that is American but has an international facet may also be posted here.

Guidelines for submissions:

Where possible, post the original source of information.
- If there is a paywall, you can use alternative sources or provide an archive.today, 12ft.io, etc. link in the body.
Do not editorialize titles. Preserve the original title when possible; edits for clarity are fine.
Do not post ragebait or shock stories. These will be removed.
Do not post tabloid or blogspam stories. These will be removed.
Social media should be a source of last resort.

These guidelines will be enforced on a know-it-when-I-see-it basis.

For US News, see the US News community.

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Why do so many Black women die in pregnancy? One reason: Doctors don't take them seriously (apnews.com)

submitted 1 year ago by GlassHalfHopeful to c/news

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The nation’s health disparities have had a tragic impact: Over the past two decades, the higher mortality rate among Black Americans resulted in 1.6 million excess deaths compared to white Americans. That higher mortality rate resulted in a cumulative loss of more than 80 million years of life due to people dying young and billions of dollars in health care and lost opportunity.

For decades, frustrated birth advocates and medical professionals have tried to sound an alarm about the ways medicine has failed Black women. Historians trace that maltreatment to racist medical practices that Black people endured amid and after slavery.

The disparities between Black and white babies is stark: The infant mortality rate in 2021 for white mothers was 5.8, while the infant mortality rate for Black mothers was 12.1, an increase from 10.9 from the prior year.

Black babies account for just 29% of births in Alabama, yet nearly 47% of infant deaths.

A 2020 report by the Alabama Maternal Mortality Review Committee found that more than 55% of 80 pregnancy-related deaths that they reviewed in 2016 and 2017 could have been prevented.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] ArugulaZ@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I remember that there's a trick you can use to force medical officials to do their jobs. Basically, if they refuse to offer you treatment, you tell them you want that refusal in writing, so if anything happens to you as a result of their negligence, they can be held liable for it. They tend to be a lot more accommodating when they know they could be charged with malpractice.

[–] GlassHalfHopeful 2 points 1 year ago

I don't know if something like that will work, but it sure is an interesting response.

[–] argv_minus_one 1 points 1 year ago

Can they not simply refuse to treat and refuse to put it in writing?