The Green Room: A Podcast from Obstetrics & Gynecology Editors’ Picks for October 2023
Sep 22, 2023
Irogo Iguanosa, a lead author focusing on maternal morbidity disparities, joins Gabriella Main, a doctoral student examining race in maternal health, along with Joia Crear-Perry, president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, and Kirby Wyckoff, an advocate for community engagement in clinical studies. Their discussion delves into the critical examination of racism as a systemic issue rather than merely a risk factor. They advocate for equitable practices in reproductive health and highlight the importance of data equity and addressing anemia disparities affecting marginalized communities.
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Racism, Not Race, Drives Risk
- Labeling Black race as a risk factor hides the true cause, which is anti-Black racism.
- Naming racism reveals modifiable pathways like implicit bias and chronic stress that can be targeted to improve outcomes.
Personal Origins Of The Commentary
- Luwam Gadeh described personal motivation from obstetrics training and family experiences that exposed embedded racism in medical training.
- Two of her sisters had serious obstetric outcomes which fueled her work and belief that racism contributed to disparities.
Practice Anti‑Racist Maternity Care
- Name anti-Black racism as the root cause and practice anti-racist maternity care locally.
- Do institutional root-cause analyses and ask whether you'd treat a patient differently if they were another race.