Doulas, midwives and lawmakers challenge erasure of Black women in maternal health care

From the Article

“It’s actually dangerous for the federal government or state government or anyone to suggest that these review committees are not useful,” she said. “If we do not investigate, if we do not evaluate what is happening for folks while they’re dying … then how can we suggest that we care about pregnant people and their families?”
President & CEO Dr. Jamila Perritt

Brandie Bishop-Stacker was absent from school the day her little sister was born 24 years ago. Instead, the then-10-year-old went to a Georgia hospital with her mom, rubbing her feet, getting her water, and comforting her during labor pains. She recalled her mother screaming when she initially couldn’t feel her legs after receiving an epidural. And she remembered the nurses and medical staff not offering much in the way of support.

“Nobody gave any extra support seeing that my mom was a single mom, that I was there out of school helping her that day,” said Bishop-Stacker, now a professional doula in Atlanta. “…If she needed something … that was kind of a me thing, even though, of course, there’s nursing staff and I was 10 years old.”