Birthing Liberation: How Reproductive Justice Can Set Us Free

This urgent debut from Wade, a doula, explores how racism drives high rates of perinatal and infant mortality in Black communities. She traces the history of medical racism to explain how medical institutions and professionals have failed the BIPOC community. Harrowing accounts of the experimental procedures that J. Marion Sims, the “Father of Gynecology,” performed on Black women in the 1840s bolster the contention that doctors have long viewed Black women as disposable and insulated against pain. Study results, meanwhile, illuminate how this legacy persists in modern medical care; Wade describes research papers that found Black WIC recipients are less likely to receive breastfeeding counseling than white recipients and that Black infants are less likely to die if cared for by Black, rather than white, doctors. Wade’s exercises encourage readers to reflect on trauma they may have experienced without judgment and to journal about one’s relationship with healthcare providers. These exercises are important, the author contends, because collective liberation will stem from “liberated individuals” who understand their trauma and share a commitment to empowering marginalized communities. Wade’s attention to how personal change can contribute to societal shifts elevates this above other titles that focus on the self, and the solid research drives home the scope of the problem. This deeply empathetic overview of medical racism will outrage and has the power to inspire change. (Mar.)