Dr. Courtney Townsel, MD, MS, participated in a Reproductive Justice Town Hall sponsored by Mothering Justice on April 16th.
The panel spoke about the shortage of Black obstetric physicians and birth workers and how this may limit the opportunity to find a race-congruent clinician. They focused on creating an open dialogue between patients and their care teams about fears of “dying” and not “feeling heard,” and discussed what practices and institutions are doing to eliminate Black maternal deaths and disparities in perinatal outcomes.
Dr. Townsel spoke about finding a physician and practice that centers the values of the patient, in this instance, Black women. She also discussed ways pregnant Black people can advocate for themselves during pregnancy and the birth process, including identifying their birth preferences early and sharing them with their care team along with educating themselves, family, and friends about common complications in pregnancy (e.g. preeclampsia, gestational diabetes).