Haven Harris, 19, knew she needed a Black OB-GYN.
She said she’d heard horror stories from family members, friends and on the news: nurses who didn’t listen, doctors who ignored pain, Black women who died preventable deaths. A 2022 report from Indiana University’s Public Policy Institute found that Indiana had the third-highest maternal mortality rate in the nation.
“As a first-time mom, it’s scary,” Harris said. “I just felt more comfortable going to my doctor’s appointment and knowing I have this person to deliver my baby when the time comes.”
Harris, due in about 14 weeks, joined dozens of Indianapolis mothers and mothers-to-be at the “EmpowerHer: Navigating Black Maternal Health” event, hosted by nonprofit MelaMama Maternal Wellness and IU Health’s infant and maternal health team. The event, held Saturday, Jan. 27, at the Ruth Lilly Health Education Center, featured a panel of Black doctors and health care providers discussing community efforts to reduce maternal deaths.
“You’re the patient,” Ashley Porter, a public health nurse, told the audience. “Be comfortable telling your provider what your needs are and what’s bothering you.”
But panelists also acknowledged the barriers to care Black mothers have long faced — and how these factors have bred mistrust in the medical system.
“People are afraid to say the word racism,” said Dr. Lauren Dungy-Poythress, an Indianapolis-based OB-GYN. “Anything that affects a woman is going to affect a Black woman more because of all the historical and structural concerns that we have.”
In 2020, maternal mortality for Black women in Indiana — defined as a death that happens during pregnancy or up to a year after — was about 93% higher than the rate for white women. IU’s Public Policy Institute found that lack of access to services, substance use disorders and discrimination in health care contributed to the disparity in maternal mortality rates.
“The difference I see between my white clients and Black clients is startling,” TaKiesha Smith, a doula who supports women before and after childbirth, told Mirror Indy. “Black women aren’t being heard. When they say something is wrong with their baby, they’re told they’re being aggressive or that they’re fine.”
Saturday’s event was organized, in part, to honor Dr. Chaniece Wallace, a resident physician at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis who died from complications after giving birth to her daughter in 2020. Her story sparked headlines across the country, highlighting how even a Black doctor was not safe from racial disparities in maternal care.
Wallace had preeclampsia, a blood pressure condition during pregnancy that is five times more likely to kill Black mothers, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Health. Panelists encouraged those attending the event to look for symptoms of the condition, including severe headaches, vision problems and high blood pressure. They also advocated for hospitals and doctors to check more on mothers after they give birth.
“A mom has 12 to 14 prenatal visits,” Porter said. “After they have the baby, they only have one visit at six weeks.”
Many Black women are turning to community doulas, midwives and lactation consultants to fill that gap in aftercare.
Latasha Girdy, 30, had a high-risk pregnancy because of fibroids — tumors that grow in the wall of the uterus, causing pain and heavy bleeding. Her doula was there through the diagnosis and the panic attacks she experienced during pregnancy.
“I assembled my own support team,” Girdy said. “It goes beyond the OB-GYN. If I had just stopped there and not had that extra support, I would have felt very on my own with everything.”
She sat outside the conference room Saturday, burping her baby, 3-month-old Mikayla. Mother and daughter wore matching cheetah patterns.
Girdy is new to motherhood, but something was already clear:
“It means loving on your child and pouring into them,” Girdy said. “I am going to empower you to face the things you might encounter being a Black child in America.”
Mirror Indy reporter Mary Claire Molloy covers health. Reach her at maryclaire.molloy@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @mcmolloy7.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
