African American
Related: About this forumBirthing While Black
I hesitated to post this at DU for a week now - but the more I read the comments at Huffpo (much nicer at MyBrownBaby.com) the angrier I get.
First - sometimes we just 'know'. We know when we are experiencing that subtle bias - those cultural clues.
Second - There is a stereotype that no black woman giving birth could possibly be married . . . And to me - when the author shares that nugget - everything becomes illuminated and very very true.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/denene-millner/african-american-birth-story-hospital_b_1231247.html
Denene Millner.Founder, MyBrownBaby.com
But that is probably where our memories of that special day part. What I most remember? That the hospital and workers where I had my first daughter sullied what should have been one of the most amazing days of my life.
I gave birth at a hospital in upper Manhattan -- a renowned teaching hospital that, because of where it's situated, caters to a poor, uninsured community, but, because of its leading specialists, modern facilities and state-of-the-art technology, also is frequented by well-to-do patients who consider it one of the best hospitals in New York. They made it very clear in the brochures and birthing plans that a regular ol' birth there was neither more nor less than what a pregnant women could get elsewhere, but if you were willing to fork over an additional $800 or so, you could get the Cadillac birthing experience: a private room, extra personal time with your significant other, a special waiting room for family members replete with free refreshments, and a complimentary congratulatory meal -- two steak and lobster (!) dinners and champagne for two -- for the new parents. I promise you this: the words were so pretty I was convinced I was about to give birth in a posh hotel.
I did not.
Despite an incredible birthing experience facilitated by my personal angel/OB-GYN, from almost the moment my baby took her first breath, her mother was treated like a 14-year-old drug-addicted welfare queen, there to push out yet another daddy-less baby. Seriously.
They tested my newborn for drugs (though I've never taken an illicit substance in my entire life) without my consent -- something I later found out hospitals do at disproportionately higher rates with black babies than white ones.
Despite the fact that I paid for the private room and meals, I was immediately put in a massive post-birth room with three other women and their newborns. I was moved only after I asked why I wasn't in a private room -- a question that elicited scowls and foot-dragging from the nurse until she bothered to check my paperwork to see that, indeed, I'd paid for a private room. It took three hours for my room to be changed.
Once in the private room, the nurses disappeared for nine hours! Seriously. Nine. I had no diapers. No idea how to breastfeed properly (and no bottle or milk to feed my baby if I chose to formula feed). No instructions on what to do to care for my post-birth body (was it okay to walk? Pee? Wash?). Nothing. I seriously thought I was being punished for asking (nicely) for what I'd paid for. When a nurse finally did show up, she came with a "gift bag" full of formula and coupons for... formula.
The private "suite" was disgusting. The bathroom smelled like cheap, potent cleaning chemicals. The shower tiles were grimy and the shower curtain was full of mold. There wasn't so much as a picture on the bland walls. (I begged my back-up OB-GYN to let me go home after one night; thank God, she signed off on it).
The nursing staff was genuinely surprised (!) that the guy by my side, Nick, was my husband -- and actually said that stupid ish out loud
Hopefully I'm not overstepping the four paragraph rule - but if you fly by the bullets only - you don't get the gist of it.
rocktivity
(44,577 posts)Last edited Wed Nov 25, 2020, 12:20 PM - Edit history (10)
even after dutifully reciting my daily intake of vitamins and monthly intake of ibuprofen for cramps (information that was on my chart since I'd also given it to my doctor). Finally, because I was just too dumb to understand him, he said, "I'm trying to find out if you take any drugs." And during my pelvic exam, one nurse was quite surprised that I hadn't had any children at my age.
rocktivity
DCKit
(18,541 posts)Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Disgusting.
onpatrol98
(1,989 posts)I hear you. I'm married with children. My parents are married. My grandparents (both sets) were married, etc. I have a PhD and I have considered working toward another one. But, it never fails. When I go to hospitals, clinics and such...unless I go where I am known, I am treated horribly. I hate first trips to any place. Because at the first visit, you are the statistic. Young, black, single, and uneducated. Well...actually since I've just passed 40, I'm not young anymore.
But, for me. This isn't reserved for hospitals. It's anyplace. I make the extra effort to dress better. It confuses them, if nothing else. Then...when I open my mouth. They assume I'm not local. That, I'm a transplant. And, that doesn't help. In a worse case scenario, if they find out that you're not young, black, single and uneducated...they go in another direction. That you're an "uppity negro."
I'm unsure as to whether or not I should work that angle. Might get a shirt made with that on it. You know...Beware, uppity negro has arrived or something like that.
Number23
(24,544 posts)She came out with this gem that literally punched me in the stomach like a fist:
There ain't a sister on this earth that doesn't know EXACTLY what the author is referring to.
JustAnotherGen
(31,869 posts)And then I read it again.
SemperEadem
(8,053 posts)the intellectual laziness of easily intimidated people who have done nothing with their lives.
nofurylike
(8,775 posts)thank you very much for posting that, JustAnotherGen.
people must hear and hear and hear that this is happening in 2012. now. still.
it is obscene.
horrifying.
heartbreaking.
at what should be the most JOYFUL and CELEBRATED moment in anyone's life!!
thank you, again.
onpatrol98
(1,989 posts)You're right! That's what makes it heartbreaking. You just can't relive these moments and have a do over.
nofurylike
(8,775 posts)yes. yes yes yes. the most precious moment imaginable.
the thought that institutionalized vile ignorant racism could do that ....
it shrieks through me
thank you, onpatrol98
MADem
(135,425 posts)No one should be treated like that--it's disgraceful. That woman should write to the head of the hospital and describe her insulting experience in detail. The hospital should apologize to her and refund her "Cadillac" money, because she only got a beat-up Chevy.
The drug testing of the baby, though? I am given to understand that this is standard in many hospitals around the country, even without suspicion of abuse. They can do it with the child's urine or meconium (yuck) without being invasive.
The Hollywood rumor mill rather cattily says that's why Angelina Jolie has her children overseas....