Women delivering better births
Two female obstetricians who are empowering pregnant women
Women around the world are still dying unnecessarily in childbirth, and suffering 'violence' in the delivery room. What can be done to empower pregnant women? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two female obstetricians who are fighting to improve birth experiences and safety for women in Brazil and the US.
Dr Maria Helena Bastos is a Brazilian obstetrician who says that women in Brazil give birth in a very medicalised and highly scrutinised way, with some even forced to have Caesarean sections against their will. She is campaigning for women to be able to take control back of their bodies and their births.
Dr Joia Crear-Perry is the Founder and President of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, set up to address the racial disparity in maternal and infant mortality in the US. Black mothers die in childbirth at 3 to 4 times the rate of white mothers. As a black mother and an obstetrician, Joia wants to end what she calls 'race-based medicine'.
Image:
L - Dr Joia Crear-Perry Credit: Comcast Newsmakers
R - Image & credit: Dr Maria Helena Bastos
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- Mon 17 Jun 201902:32GMTBBC World Service Online, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa only
- Mon 17 Jun 201903:32GMTBBC World Service UK DAB/Freeview
- Mon 17 Jun 201904:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia, Americas and the Caribbean, South Asia & East Asia only
- Mon 17 Jun 201910:32GMTBBC World Service except West and Central Africa
- Mon 17 Jun 201917:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Mon 17 Jun 201921:32GMTBBC World Service except Europe and the Middle East
- Mon 17 Jun 201922:32GMTBBC World Service Europe and the Middle East
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