When I hear these factors being brought into the conversation, I know the focus is all wrong. With race being the only obvious difference, some may look for other factors: diet, exercise, education or socioeconomic status. What’s more alarming, Black women are about four times more likely than white women to die in pregnancy, and their babies are two to three times more likely than white babies to die within the first year. Black women are more likely to have small babies, early babies, pre-eclampsia and high blood pressure. In the United States, if a Black woman and a white woman with the same exact physical characteristics (weight, height, blood pressure, etc.) receive the same prenatal care, the Black woman is likely to have a worse outcome than the white woman. How does race impact risk? Same Playing Field, Different Outcomes One of the variables that has an impact on pregnancy outcomes is race. My job is to look at all these variables and calculate the risk of pregnancy for both mom and baby. It is empowering women toward body autonomy and shared decision-making.Įach mother carries her own health history, unique beliefs, distinct values and her own support system. It is showing them the strength and power that motherhood grants. It is encouraging mothers to trust themselves. Supporting a family as it works toward a healthy pregnancy, birth and recovery encompasses so much more than just checking the fetal heartbeat, translating ultrasound reports and doing prenatal labs. With each passing year, I become a better listener. Like most, I am not the same doctor today as I was when I started this journey. This part of birth always reminds me that the decision to go into obstetrics wasn’t a difficult one - it was the only one. Even after all these years of practice, this moment can still bring tears to my eyes. One part of this job, however, has stayed the same - the emotion felt when a newborn infant is placed into the arms of her mother for the very first time. Each week brings new research, updated protocols and refined treatment guidelines. The medical side of how I treat patients is ever changing. This means that there could likely be more white babies in the Ihegboro family’s future, regardless of who Nmachi has the children with.Let me start by saying I’ve been an obstetrician for 15 years, which translates into having cared for thousands of pregnant women and their babies. If this is the case, she will likely also pass this genetic trait on to her future children, as well. The third theory is that Nmachi’s skin color is because of a genetic mutation unique to her. This does not exist in either of Ben or Angela’s family trees, however, so this could not explain the color of their child’s skin. These would be dormant white genes that for whatever reason hadn’t surfaced in either of their families until now. That is to say that somewhere in either of their family lineages, there is a white person. ( 3)Īnother theory was that perhaps Ben and Angela had mixed-race ancestry. It is, after all, one of the most common recessive gene disorders in Nigeria and comes in many forms. Reports afterward, however, stated that they hadn’t ruled it out entirely. The doctors at the hospital where she was born said that this wasn’t the case. One of the first thoughts about baby Nmachi’s appearance is that perhaps she is an albino child.
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