oped letters & comments
BY PATRICIA DAVIS
Two miscarriages, three
cycles of in vitro fertilization
and over 10 years of stress,
hopelessness and disappointments
and fi nally the words
the couple was waiting to
hear, “you’re pregnant.” As
the months passed, the excitement
grew in anticipation
of the birth of their son.
Then the moment fi nally arrived
and the joy was almost
uncontainable. Three hours
later, the couple held their son
together for the fi rst time for
seven short minutes — it was
perfect. Then without notice,
he looked into his wife’s eyes
and saw the light begin to dim
and almost instantaneously a
part of his heart darkened. He
knew she was gone.
How could this be, he wondered
as he stood dazed holding
his son while staring at
his wife’s body that showed
none of the pain or anguish
she just endured. “She told you
something was wrong but you
didn’t listen,” he screamed as
the nurses tried to pull his son
out of his arms. “You said the
bleeding was nothing to worry
about and she would be fi ne
with a little rest.” But she was
not fi ne, she was dead.
When my friend called to
tell me about the unimaginable
tragedy her brother had
endured, an overwhelming
sense of hurt and fear came
over me at fi rst, but it quickly
turned to anger. I, too, had
been trying for many years to
get pregnant and had suffered
multiple miscarriages. As an
acute care nurse practitioner
(NP), the possibility of dying
during or after childbirth had
never occurred to me. Perhaps
I was naïve or felt that my role
as an NP in the hospital allotted
me a sense of security or a
spot at the front of the line in
receiving the best health care
possible. The truth is that
Black women like me are dying
at an alarming rate from
complications associated with
pregnancy and childbirth.
According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) the majority of
maternal deaths are preventable.
Yet, Black women are
three to four times more likely
to die from pregnancy-related
causes than white women. In
2018, there was 17.4 deaths per
100,000 live births compared
to Black women who died at
a rate of 37.1 per 100,000 live
births. Nearly 700 maternal
deaths with two and a half
times more Blacks than whites
dying. This rate is higher than
any other developed nation.
Why is this happening?
Certainly, there are a host of
contributing factors that have
been researched including disparities
such as lack of access
to prenatal care, little or no
health insurance, increased
stress, exposure to violence
and trauma, comorbidities,
food insecurity and mental
health issues. However,
this was not the case for this
Black woman.
Too many Black women
are having their voices silenced
while providers assert
their knowledge and opinion
of superiority proposing to
know what is best for these
mothers who have spent the
last nine months nurturing
and growing a precious life,
only to feel as if their own life
doesn’t matter. Nurses and
providers are taught to listen
to their patients. “Pain is what
the patient says it is,” my professor
told me. So why doesn’t
that hold true for Black mothers?
Shouldn’t they be allowed
to be the experts over
their own bodies? Education
nor wealth as it seems can secure
your voice as even Black
celebrities like Serena Williams
have their requests for
treatment ignored.
Sure, the death certifi cate
will say she died due to complications
caused by infection,
hemorrhage or a cardiovascular
related condition. The reality
is that she died because
no one listened to the screams
that turned to soft pleas for
help she whispered as she felt
her body grow weaker.
What’s the solution? Black
Maternal Health Week is recognized
by many cities in
April, but it will take more
than a week to end the disparities
and address the systemic
racial and sexist biases
that exist in a predominantly
white male-dominated fi eld.
Making cultural competence
and diversity training mandatory
in medical schools should
be a starting point. Recognizing
the problem and getting
involved is part of the solution.
Support legislation such
as Bill S.3424 the Black Maternal
Health Momnibus Act
of 2020 that addresses maternal
health outcomes in underserved
minority populations.
Support organizations like
the Black Coalition for Safe
Motherhood that promotes advocacy
and encourages Black
women to trust themselves
and seek out respectful providers.
The time is up, and
Black women will no longer
be muted.
Patricia Davis is a Bronx
resident in the Doctorate of
Nursing Practice (DNP) Program
at Duke University School
of Nursing. She currently works
at Montefi ore Medical Center in
the Bronx as a nurse practitioner
in pulmonary medicine.
YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD - YOUR NEWS
The Bronx Times On-Line
Your world is 24/7... NOW so are we.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,BTR NOV. 27-DEC. 3, 2020 13
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed
care of this newspaper to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter,
3604 E. Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and with a
verifi able address and telephone number included.
Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
name will be published or withheld upon request.
No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves the
right to edit all submissions.
To the editor,
BT/BTR is entitled to the
letters policy it chooses, but
I fi nd it somewhat unfair
the only letter it published
in its 11/19/2020 edition was
by an individual who has
had a letter published every
week. Regardless, I would
like to address Mr. Pelosi’s
anti-conservative views.
Mr. Pelosi, the way you
have the right to express your
often vitriol-laced opinions,
the two letter writers have the
right to express their lament.
It’s called the First Amendment.
Unless you’ve taken
opinion polls of voters in the
Bronx, you cannot say how
many people share their point
of view. I am a registered conservative
and I resent your
boilerplate opinion of conservatives.
I am personally
opposed to abortion in most
cases but also recognize abortion
is the law of the land. So
is gay marriage. I feel there
are only two solutions to the
war on drugs: the death penalty,
as they do in Singapore,
or legalization. I am totally opposed
to the Rockefeller Drug
Laws. Ronald Reagan is not
my political hero. I do not unconditionally
support Israel.
Nor do I unconditionally support
the police. I feel conservatives
and liberals do physical
violence against each other in
equal numbers.
As for the 14th not having
representation in Congress, I
did not see Ocasio-Cortez once
in the streets of Parkchester
during the fi rst height of the
pandemic. Full disclosure: I
didn’t see her opponent, John
Cummings, either. I live about
a quarter of a mile from her. I
fi nd merit to Long Island City
losing jobs, although I dispute
the 25,000 fi gure and don’t
blame her solely. I see nothing
wrong with a congresswoman
being outspoken and anti-status
quo, but wonder about her
motives. I cannot reads minds,
including her mind, so I will
draw no conclusions.
Ocasio-Cortez won because
her opponent, John Cummings,
ran a totally feckless
campaign. He tried to break
the world record for the number
of times he could say he
was a former police offi cer
(and I care because?) AOC
drove away Amazon, and AOC
wants to defund police. Come
the day before Election Day,
everything Cummings said
sounded like, blah blah blah.
“I’m John Cummings and
I’m not AOC” could not possibly
survive the battlefi eld.
Ocasio-Cortez might not have
survived a serious candidate.
– Nat Weiner
Photo via Getty Images
Dear editor,
I heartily agree with the
COMACTA mouthpiece who
last week stated “the ability
of some elected offi cial lawbreakers
to escape punishment”
is an insult to our justice
system. All criminals,
regardless of their stature
or position, should pay for
their misdeeds. Mr. Trump
and his cast of grifters, however,
are the elected offi cials
who should face justice, not
the former Obama personnel
he accuses of imaginary
crimes that have been investigated
and proven to be completely
baseless to all but the
inhabitants of the right-wing
echo chamber.
The author goes on to suggest
methods to suppress
voter participation in order
to combat the non-existent
problem of voter fraud. More
restrictions on voting rights
will help accomplish the right
wing dream of decreasing
the number of voters who reject
the outmoded conservative
ideology. A better course
of action would be to realize
that it is no longer 1950 and
citizens will no longer accept
the conditions that were prevalent
at that time. Much has
changed since that time and
those who live in the past have
no future.
The columnist seems to
believe that those who do not
share his archaic beliefs are
“clearly anti-American,” a
statement that is itself anti-
American, since it denies a basic
American tenet, freedom
of expression. He decries the
increase in the national debt
under Obama, while ignoring
the larger increase under
Trump, as reported by Forbes
magazine, hardly a bastion
of progressive thinking. So
much for intellectual honesty.
– Pasqual Pelosi
Time’s up for Black maternal mortality
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