The Role and Challenges Women Face In our Society with Kimberly Seals Allers

Today on The Woman’s Doctor, Kimberly Seals Allers joins us to discuss the unfortunate state of maternal care in America. Kimberly is an award winning journalist and advocate for breastfeeding and infant health. Giving birth opened her eyes to the harsh reality that women face in modern hospitals, even in a developed nation. 

 

Most medical institutions are informed by and dominated by men, which has left a detrimental gap in the education available to most women, especially women of color. The average woman does not have a grasp of the female anatomy or the importance of hormonal health. A  staggering amount of women are encouraged to simply remove their ovaries before ever exploring diet and hormonal balance as a natural solution. 

 

Information is the key to restructuring what is acceptable care in America. For generations, women have been told that women's health is a private matter, but that sentiment is keeping women in the dark about their own bodies. America has the highest mortality rates of women in labor than any other developed nation. Kimberly hopes that by starting the conversation and encouraging open dialogue we can move towards more holistic and equitable care for women.

 

Key Takeaways:

[3:26] The disparity in birth outcomes between birth outcomes between minority women 

[5:00] Women are often the most misinformed about their own bodies

[6:00] The hormone mystery: how hormonal imbalances and poor diet lead to fibroids 

[7:20] How lack of education has led many black women to have unnecessary hysterectomies 

[8:10] Science has detached us from our body parts deeming whole organs as removable

[10:45] There is more research on erectile dysfunction than on breastfeeding 

[12:10] Mothers die in America at higher rates than any other developed nation

[13:00] Rates of postpartum depression in this country are skyrocketing 

[14:00] The field of gynecology began with the forceful experimentation on enslaved women 

[15:55] Reclaiming the cultural tradition of food as medicine 

[17:25] Creating an open culture that encourages women to openly discuss hormonal health

[18:15] Lies that the medical community has historically perpetuated about black women

[19:00] National rates of mortality during childbirth are generally higher in the black community

[21:00] There is an element of racism within the medical care system

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

KimberlySealsAllers.com

The Big Letdown

The Mocha Manual to a Fabulous Pregnancy

Momnibus Bill of 2021

 

Twitter:

“So many of the black women that I reached out to, no longer had their wombs!” [7:27]

 

“As a woman, knowing that we have a mostly male medical system that treats women’s body parts as dispensable was deeply troubling.”   [8:40]

 

“Why are we still here? That is the question and I think what actually concerns me more than why are we still here is why aren’t we more upset about where we are at, as women?”  [11:20]

 

“When we look at this pattern, we can’t ignore that there is an element of racism where providers treat people differently. The fact that there is a disparity means they’re getting it right for somebody, just not for everybody.”  [21:00]

 

 

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