From TransAtlantic to Hospital Beds

Hospitals. A place one goes to find care, comfort, and health. By definition, it is described as "an institution providing medical and surgical treatment and nursing care for sick or injured people". Unfortunately, this is not the care that the Johnson Family received. Kyra, a thirty-nine-year-old African-American woman, was pregnant with her second son when the health care system failed her. Kyra had a healthy pregnancy and was scheduled for a C-section on April 12th, 2016. After the son was delivered, Charles noticed blood in her catheter. After 10 hours of "pleading with doctors to do something", the doctors realized Kyra needed surgery. By the time they realized this, it was already too late and she had already passed away. About 700 women in the USA die every year in pregnancy complications, making the USA the developed country with most deaths due to pregnancy. Additionally, "African American mothers are four times more likely to be victims than white women". Charles has taken his hurt and transformed it into the "Preventing Maternal Deaths Act", which was passed in 2018. This act ensures that every death related pregnancy is reviewed under the state. These two videos brought to my attention the inequality that occurs even in times of most need such as pregnancy. Previously to this video, I hadn't had much thought on this issue and felt like this discrimination was something of the past or that these sort of things didn't happen in such a sacred place such as a hospital; but after watching this video with both facts and a personal story of tragedy the question comes to mind: Would this of happened if she was of different skin color? In Mr. Carson's talk, he spoke about African-American women and the oppression and healthcare that comes along with that and how this oppression has been built-upon during the time. He also touched base on stats and that 5.7 percent of U.S physicians are African-American; that's 13% percent of the population. Mr. Carson spoke about the TransAtlantic voyage and how the African-American were treated inhumanely both on the boat and on land due to the color of their skin. This talk was very educational to me and taught me that this oppression has been going on for countless decades and that Kyra's story of injustice in the hospital can be linked to this. I believe that regardless of social status or skin color when it comes to health one should be given the uttermost care, and perhaps if that measure had been taken - this wouldn't be such a heartbreaking tale.