ipl-logo

Killing The Black Body By Dorothy Roberts: Article Analysis

1039 Words5 Pages

History of Black reproductive health In summary, the book, “Killing the Black Body” written by Dorothy Roberts examines the reproductive rights of Black women, she states that historical, sociological, and legal frameworks have negatively impacted the reproductive rights of Black women. In my opinion, despite the book being published in 1997, the topics discussed still relate to the current issues we face today in society. Moreover, describing how history beginning with slavery has still impacted Black women’s maternal health. Defining Black Maternal Health The topic I chose to address is Maternal health among Black Women. Maternal Health can be defined as the health of a woman during various periods such as pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. …show more content…

As research shows, the quality of healthcare, from preconception through postpartum care could be an important factor in improving the well-being of Black mothers (Howell, 2018). Last, as mentioned in class, the social determinants of health are significant factors in Black Maternal health. In further detail, an article written by Crear-Perry, et al. goes into further detail about social needs and the five essentials: awareness, adjustment, assistance, alignment, and advocacy …show more content…

Health literacy is a term we talked about in class and can be defined as an individual’s ability to find, understand, and use health-related information. Muvuka, et al., mentioned that lower health literacy levels affect racial and ethnic minorities disproportionately more than White people (2020). Further stating that about 58% of Blacks had basic or below basic health literacy language. Although these statistics did not include just the maternal health population, it still is a great guiding factor in determining that the Black maternal health population has a lower health literacy. The authors also mention that lower health literacy impacts disparities in health behaviors, access to healthcare resources, and health outcomes (Murvuka, et al., 2020). Consequently, the issue of Black Maternal health not only impacts the mother’s well-being, but the family as a whole. As I have learned in various human development courses, declining health in one family member may impact the family’s roles and a shift may occur. Additionally, if it were a case of Black Maternal mortality, this may affect the family’s emotions and younger children may not understand the process of

Open Document