RICHMOND, Va. — This week is Black Maternal Health Week, bringing awareness to some of the disparities felt by women of color. That includes lack of quality healthcare, poverty, lack of affordable housing and nutrition, according to the Morehouse School of Medicine.
Latonya West is a certified doula in Richmond. She says the start of her career kicked off after one of the hardest moments of her life—holding her stillborn daughter, for the first time.
"It was devastating. I felt like a failure. I thought what if what if I could have fought a little bit harder if I had a doula at that moment they could’ve advocated for me to get more help," recounts West.
In 2008, West says she was about 26 weeks into her pregnancy when she started having contractions.
Yet, doctors assured her things were fine.
"I started having even stronger contractions. But my doctors and nurses didn’t listen to me," West said. "They told me to close my legs and they couldn’t see anything on the screen and by the time I got to the L&D my daughter was pronounced dead."
Doctors said West was still required to deliver her baby and endure the whole birthing process.
"It was the hardest thing any mother would have to go through," explains West.
West said she was allowed to hold her baby Sarah Amelia for a few hours to say goodbye.
When it was time to leave the hospital, West said she went home with a special box containing Sarah's footprints and pictures instead of her bundle of joy.
While in the midst of grieving, West was told that she wouldn't be able to have any more children or else she would die.
According to data from the CDC, women of color are three times more likely to pass away during pregnancy than Caucasian women.
Shortly after losing her baby, West said she became a doula, and often goes to the appointments of her mom clients to be an advocate for them.
She says 90 percent of them are Black. It's a racial group that she says historically hasn't been heard in a hospital.
"People think that we have a higher pain tolerance. That’s false," West said. "Historically speaking, through our journey of slavery and prejudice, my people learned how to condition ourselves to not to show our pain. But we are going through pain on a daily basis."
Today, West is the Richmond ambassador for Count The Kicks, a program that helps provide help and resources to expecting and grieving moms and also helps advocate.
Since her daughter's death, West said she's been by the side of other moms, holding their hands while keeping her daughter, Sarah Amelia, in heart and mind.
Some lawmakers said they're pushing for legislation to help mothers like West. It's called the Mothers and Newborn Success Actwhich was introduced by Senator Tim Kaine (D). If passed, it would expand maternal health research and data collection, making sure women have a birthing facility and plan that matches them.
