Implicit biases in health care are costing Black moms — and their babies
— their lives.  

[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change logo[ [link removed] ][IMG]

Tell Naval Medical Center Portsmouth to provide implicit bias training
for its staff!
  

[ [link removed] ]Take Action
John,

LeeAnn Bienaime was feeling nervous and excited to become a new mom.
[ [link removed] ]But late last month, when LeeAnn went to the hospital with ‘intense’
contractions, she was sent home by the medical staff at Naval Medical
Center Portsmouth. Just a few hours later, she gave birth to her baby in
her bathtub.^1 Luckily, her baby is healthy, but this situation could have
been dangerous. Too often, Black women are forced to make do with health
care professionals who don’t respond to our needs and don’t believe our
pain. This is the result of implicit biases in health care, which cost
Black moms — and their babies — their lives. But, through implicit bias
training, hospitals can reduce the number of Black women who are having
negative experiences while in their care. 

[ [link removed] ]Naval Medical Center Portsmouth must institute implicit bias training
and ensure no other Black moms have to face what LeeAnn experienced.  

Black moms are not being treated with the respect and dignity they
deserve, particularly during childbirth. But, implicit bias training has
the potential to change this for Black moms across the country. In
California, for instance, Color Of Change recently helped to pass a
maternal health care bill that will reduce preventable, pregnancy-related
deaths by requiring medical institutions to train staff to unlearn biases
and misinformation.^2 This kind of training is crucial, and can be the
difference between life and death for Black moms. 

[ [link removed] ]Tell Naval Medical Center Portsmouth to institute implicit bias
training for its staff!  

Black mothers face disparate outcomes regardless of their wealth or class.
Even superstars like Serena Williams and Beyoncé have faced
life-threatening complications during the delivery of their children. When
they told medical staff about their pain, the staff didn’t listen.^3 This
kind of behavior is not unusual. Medical staff have historically
discriminated against Black people. In fact, supposed progress in the
field has often come at the expense of Black women who were forced to
endure inhumane medical treatments. For example, the so-called Father of
Gynecology, James Marion Sims, conducted research on enslaved Black women
without anesthesia.^4 Today’s medical treatments are built on this racism,
and harmful implicit biases remain pervasive in medical institutions. 

Implicit biases in health care are causing our people unnecessary
suffering, and we must take action to hold medical institutions
accountable. [ [link removed] ]Join us in calling on Naval Medical Center Portsmouth to
provide implicit bias training for its staff.

Until justice is real, 
—Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Evan, Johnny, Future, Samantha, Eesha, Marcus,
FolaSade, and the rest of the Color Of Change team 

References: 

 1. “Black mother gives birth to baby in a bathtub after being turned away
from hospital,” The Root, September 19, 2019,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 2. Office of Senator Holly Mitchell, SB 464, 12 March 2019,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 3. “Beyoncé, Serena Williams open up about potentially fatal childbirths,
a problem especially for black mothers,” Washington Post, 07 August
2018,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 4. “The ‘Father of Gynecology’ performed shocking experiments on slaves,”
History.com, 29 August 2017,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]


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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.

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