Contemporary Healthcare Disparities and Black Women’s Oppression as Wet Nurses in History
For years, the health and well being of black women and their children have been disregarded and subjected to mistreatment. For decades, they were forced to sacrifice their bodies for the benefit of their white masters. Sadly, even today, as mothers, they continue to face neglect and indifference in healthcare settings.
During slavery many black women were assigned the role of nurturing and breastfeeding the infants of their masters. The article, “Mother’s Milk: Slavery, Wet-Nursing, and Black and White Women in the Antebellum South,” by Emily West and R.J. Knight talks about how “Wet Nursing” was a common practice during the antebellum south. The article said, “Feeding another women’s child with one’s own milk constituted a form of labor, but it was work that could only be taken by a lactating woman who had borne children of her own.” White masters considered the feeding of their infants a form of labor and they recognized that only women who had just given birth could fulfill this role. White individuals also propagated the idea that black women’s bodies were better suited for breastfeeding. The article said, “Early European travelers typically commented that West African women’s breast were long, enabling women to suckle their infants over their shoulders.” White individuals believed that black women had bodies that were better suited to feed their children and they also believed that breastfeeding was easier for them.
The practice of wet nursing had a detrimental impact on black women and their infants. Wet nursing caused lack of bond between mother and child and negativity affected their health and wellbeing. The article, “Unmothering Black Women: Formula Feeding as Incident of Slavery,” by Andrea Freeman, talks about how wet nursing caused black women to neglect the needs of their own babies. The article said, “The task of wet nursing slave owners ‘infants took Black mothers away from their own children when the children needed their care the most. Sometimes they were separated permanently.” Wet nursing forced black women to put the needs of other children before their own. The article said, “Wet nursing reserved the benefits of breastfeeding for white children while simultaneously denying or severely restricting black children’s ability to enjoy its potentially life saving properties. This increased the infant mortality rate in slave communities, while providing increased protection to white children.” By forcing black women to use their breast milk to feed the children of white masters they health of black babies was neglected resulting fetal consequences.
Unfortunately, high infant mortality rates among black infants persists even in the 21st century. The article, “A review of Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality in the US,” by Caleb J. Jang and Henry C. Lee, talks about how black babies have the highest death rates in the United States compared to other racial groups. The article said, “The overall IMR ( Infant Mortality Rate) of the entire United States population masks significant disparities by race and ethnicity: The non-Hispanic black population experienced an IMR of 10.8 followed by people from Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander populations at 9.4 and American Indians at 8.2 as of 2018. The non-Hispanic white and Asian populations in the States have the lowest IMR at 4.6 and 3.6.” The data clearly shows that black infants have a higher risk of death than other racial groups. The article said that one reason why infant mortality rates are higher in black infants is because black mothers tend to receive inadequate care in health care settings. The article gives the example of Antenatal Corticosteroids administrations. The article said Antenatal Corticosteroids (ACS) are steroids that accelerate the development of the fetal lung, which can reduce respiratory diseases and further complications associated with preterm births. The article said, “Black women are at a greater risk to deliver preterm babies more than mothers of any other race. However, they receive lower ACS administration rates to mitigate the consequences of preterm birth. a retrospective cohort study that utilized the United States Natality Live Birth database from the CDC (2016–2017) found lower rates of ACS administration among Black patients (37.7%) compared to White patients (44.4%.)” Black babies continue to have high infant mortality rates because black mothers are still not getting the proper care they deserve.
While during slavery it was commonly believed that black women had an easier time breastfeeding and giving birth, during the 20th and 21st century there is a belief that black people tolerate pain better than other racial groups. The article, “Perceptions of Pain and Pleasure: Historical Implications of Disparities in Childbirth Experiences for African American and White Women in the United States,” by Lena von Moltke talks about how a 2015 study conducted in the United States found that black people were less likely to be treated for their pain than white people because of false beliefs that black people handle pain better than white people. The article also talks about how because of this false belief medical professionals often ignore black mothers and their pain. The article provided the example of world-famous tennis player, Serena Williams. The article said, “The day after giving birth to her daughter, Williams felt short of breath. She had a history of pulmonary embolisms so she altered a nurse to her symptoms and requested a CT scan with contrast and a blood thinner. The nurse disregarded her and the doctor she altered did an ultrasound of her legs instead of the CT she adamantly requested. When she eventually was sent for a CT, she already had several small blood clots settled in her lungs. Furthermore, Williams coughed frequently due to the embolisms and the coughs were forceful enough to cause her C-section wound to rupture which led to surgery in which doctors found that a hematoma had filled her abdomen.” Williams was initially ignored despite how much pain she was in. The article said that had her doctor taken her pain seriously from the start many of her complications would have been prevented. Williams testimony proves that doctors often disregard the pain experienced by black women, likely due to a basis belief they black people handle pain better or exaggerate about their pain. It’s clear that this belief can lead to negative outcomes for black women during their maternity experiences in hospitals, which leads to harmful consequences.
During slavery, black women were forced to neglect their own babies’ well being and instead use their own milk to feed white babies. Their bodies were grossly exploited and the belief that they breastfeed best was spread and led to them being greatly taken advantage of. Sadly, even today racial bias still affects black mothers and their infants. Black infants still face high mortality rates, and the pain of black women is often ignored due to the false belief that they can tolerate pain better.
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