It Really Boils Down to This

First and foremost I would like to say that for all who did not know that I am a Black Woman, I AM! I can't help but to mention that because it is relevant to my case. It has been relevant all of my life and sad to say as an adult it has not changed. I still to this day experience racism along my journey of life often. My birth incident and what happened to my daughter Aminah and our family is just one of the so very incidents that I can know highlight in my life as a colored woman. The treatment that my family received during pregnancy and post pregnancy is clear that racism in the eyes of the United States of America has not changed.

Most woman that read my blog are non-black woman of course. As I mentioned before most black woman are not birthing at home in this century. Since after Jim Crow laws when blacks begin to integrate with whites we black women were initiated into the hospital system and this is where we stayed. We no longer had to be treated like slaves in nasty unsanitary environments while giving birth to our babies. Now technology has advanced and the treatment given to blacks has changed a little giving the impression that everyone that enters into a hospital environment is treated equal but I know better.

I can't help the frustration when I read Articles from non creditable sources on issues that they can not really relate to. I mean my name has been dragged under the rug on many blogs as if I am not reading. If one is to mention my daughters name in a blog please find out all the facts first.

 MY JOB IS TO NEVER BASH A WOMAN FOR HER DECISION TO HOME BIRTH. I WILL NEVER WRITE ARTICLES RAMBLING ON ABOUT THE DANGERS AND PUT THE MOTHER IN A PIT HOLE FOR CHOOSING TO HOME BIRTH. THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO CLAIM THAT THEY ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE CATEGORY OF HOME BIRTH SAFETY BUT REALLY THEY JUST WANT TO KEEP PEOPLE READING SO THAT THEY CAN CONTINUE TO LOOK AS THOUGH HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS BUT THEY DON'T EITHER.

Me being a black woman makes this fight a lot harder because in order to get results and to get someone to take me serious the person has to be able to over look my skin color and all the stereotypes that people act like don't exist. Hear what I am saying. A lot of woman say that color doesn't matter (most of the time this is said by my non-black counterparts). The fact of the matter is that color does matter people just don't talk about it out loud.

A prime example of what I am talking about. When my husband and I showed to the grievance meeting at the church with our twin daughter the room was filled with white midwives. When Rachel (head of the the grievance) told me that Joann was not going to be there. I told her that was typical for Joann. I then told her that I felt as though Joann had not given us best prenatal treatment because of our race. One midwife said that she felt that our treatment did relate to our race and she wondered if my husband and I were going to feel uncomfortable there at the grievance due to the fact the everyone in the room was white.

This was said to me at the grievance but i mean each is its all. I can't help how someone else feels about me. When I was at the grievance telling my story the peer midwives were utterly surprised on the treatment  that my family received.

WHEN THE LETTER CAME IN THE MAIL ON MY DAUGHTERS BIRTH WAS UTTERLY DISGUSTING! YOU KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. THE DECISION LETTER FOR MIDWIFE JOANN FALCON AND JENNIFER KONKOL. NOT ONLY DID SHE (SHANNON ANTON) SEND THE DECISION LETTER ON MY TWINS BIRTHDAY BUT THE DECISION FOR NO PUNITIVE ACTION AND MORE EDUCATION WAS LIKE A SLAP IN THE FACE AND SOUR.

I just want to let mothers know that home birth is dangerous don't just take the words of a doctor take the words of a scorned mother.