What makes a woman feel welcome in academia? The case of African-American women in Brooklyn, New York, and West Palm Beach, Florida

Science is steeped in injustice and exploitation. Scientific insights from marginalized people have been erased, natural-history specimens have been taken without consent and genetics data have been manipulated to back eugenics movements. Without acknowledgement and redress of this legacy, many people from minority ethnic groups have little trust in science and certainly don’t feel welcome in academia — an ongoing barrier to the levels of diversity that many universities claim to pursue.

Black people are particularly prone to poor maternal-health outcomes owing to many factors, with systemic racism being a primary driver. In the United States women of color are more likely to have less access to medical care, transportation and insurance than are white women. Furthermore, undocumented immigrants often avoid hospital-based care for fear of deportation.

I trained in Brooklyn, New York and Newark, New Jersey. I saw how the people from the African diaspora with poor access to health care and lacked insurance had high rates of conditions, such as overweight and high blood pressure.

I then worked in West Palm Beach, an affluent urban area in Florida, where I saw a stark difference in how wealthy white women were treated and cared for compared with women in lower socio-economic groups. There seemed to be greater respect for rich white people; they were listened to and offered help, treatment and labour pain relief as soon as needed. But people of colour were labelled harshly because of their social situation. They were stereotyped as lazy, substance-using people and so on, and not listened to.

Black people also have a higher incidence of underlying conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, HIV and high blood pressure, which puts them at risk of complications during and after pregnancy. Between the last month of pregnancy and five months after delivery is when peripartum cardiomyopathy can start. Black people are also more likely to experience bleeding during pregnancy and premature delivery.

We established a cardio-obstetrics team — a multi-disciplinary team including maternal—fetal medicine specialists, obstetricians, geneticists and cardiologists.

Since the programme started, there has been a marked reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular deaths in people at Lincoln compared with what I saw in 2017. There have not been any cases of postpartum cardiomyopathy or cardiovascular decompensation that indicated that the heart couldn’t support proper circulation.

We should also direct more research towards how using medical support staff — such as those who help people navigate the medical system, doulas and midwives — could improve Black maternal-health outcomes.

It is possible to learn from parts of the world that have better maternal-health outcomes. In comparison to other countries, a lot of people in the United States don’t have access to low-cost health care during the baby’s first months. Nearly half of US births are covered by Medicaid, which offers free or low-cost health care for low-income people, which only covers mothers’ care for the first 60 days after birth. Researchers say that, to catch more medical problems earlier, Medicaid should provide financial cover through at least the ‘fourth trimester’, or the first three months of the baby’s life, and ideally up to a full year after birth. Congress approved an Medicaid extension for 12 months after birth, and 27 states have adopted such plans thus far. Each state has different policies on health-insurance coverage for fourth-trimester care, which leaves many people vulnerable.

It is hard to change people’s hearts when it comes to how they think about certain groups. Compensating or disciplining physicians financially for the health outcomes of Black patients could be an excellent way to keep them mindful of how racism and bias lead to poor results.

We need more physicians and researchers who look like us. According to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, as of July 2019, only 5% of US doctors identified as Black or African American.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04409-6

Getting Helped by Your Own Needs: The Be the One You Need: 21 Life Lessons I Learned Taking Care of Everyone but Me

If you are familiar with the issues, you can address them more easily in your research, as you will have a better idea of how the research will be received.

Sophia A Nelson is a journalist and author of the book Be the One You Need: 21 Life Lessons I Learned Taking Care of Everyone but Me. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion on CNN.

It’s the start of another year, and we are still working our way through a once-in-a-generation, life-changing pandemic almost three years after it began. We’ve all been affected by Covid-19’s scourge of sickness, hospitalization, death, loneliness, isolation, work dislocation and family disruption. Like me, you probably got sick with the coronaviruses and are living with its long-term effects.

In short, for Black and brown women, focusing on self-care is a matter of survival. The additional wake-up call that came from the Pandemic was needed by some.

Women in general, and Black women specifically, often find it hard to say no. But it’s what you sometimes must do, even when your kids have endless requests, your boss has demands, and friends who have supported you in the past are in a crisis. And the reason for centering your own needs is implied in the subtitle of my book “Life Lessons I Learned Taking Care of Everyone but Me.” It’s simply not sustainable.

The effects of environmental stress on Black women are severe. Black women who are stressed out have more years of biological aging than White women, according to one study. Black women are also more likely to die from diseases such as breast cancer and heart disease.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/01/opinions/new-year-black-women-self-care-mental-health-nelson/index.html

Self-care for Mental and Emotional Health: Three Simple Steps Towards a New Year of Black Women Self-Care Mental Health Norelson

My journey with Covid-19 began in February of 2020 when I came down with an early case. I contracted the disease while giving a speech. I was sick for a week with a high fever, respiratory distress and other complications.

I hoped that by sharing my own experiences I would help educate and inspire a new generation of Black girls and women to embrace life with hope, joy, physical and emotional well-being.

But even if you’re neither Black nor a woman, these lessons can benefit you as well. Ask yourself three questions, what do I want? What do I need? How do I feel? Your inner voice will give you the answers. You will find courage to follow through on the wisdom you have.

1. Self-care is a life strategy for success. It’s about setting healthy boundaries and ensuring that those boundaries are respected by others. You can never change others, so you need to change you first.

2. Prioritize your mental and emotional health above all else. You’re no good to anyone if you’re not good to yourself. Your mental and emotional well-being is one of the many “health verticals” you must tend to, just as you might regularly monitor your weight, heart health or blood pressure.

There’s a complete sentence. This one has really saved me a lot of heartache, unspoken resentment and time. I no longer do the things I do not want to do, to please others. I reserve my energy for those that are very important to me.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/01/opinions/new-year-black-women-self-care-mental-health-nelson/index.html

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: What Do Black Women Really Have to Do to Help Us? A New Year’s Resolution for Us

Generations of Black women have watched our mothers, grandmothers and aunts do, give, run, lift, build up, sacrifice, protect and offer up themselves to anyone and everyone in need. This new year, we all have an opportunity to do better for ourselves.