Tori Bowie died from complications in childbirth

[minsmum]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/65887510 she was only 32

Awful and very sad.

@RandomMess as in the link I put up thread (here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65300168), it has been recognised by the government and the NHS, but whether change will happen at more than a glacial pace, only time will tell.

Racism and medical neglect of both women and black people play a major part in the poor outcomes for black women's pregnancies. However, it's a lot more complex than "just" getting worse care in pregnancy.

By the time black women in the UK get pregnant, they are often affected by a lifetime of socioeconomic disadvantage (on average - not all black women, obviously), which in turn affects their health. So, on average, they are in poorer health than other groups - again, this is not to deny racism: on the contrary, I'm saying that racism affects black women's health throughout their life. This is even more true in the US because of the cost of healthcare.

So, of course we need to try to address health inequalities and racism during pregnancy but we also need to do this for the whole of people's lives.

Agree, @CaveMum - I came on to wonder what kind of 'person' might get pre-eclampsia/eclampsia. In my days as a midwife they all had one common factor. Now, what was that 🤔?

That's horrible. Poor woman.

It's true - and America has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the world.

It's also due to their genetic make up. I would say that plays a part and going to poor performing hospitals.

But, if white men had the same genetic make up, we could expect the medical issues arising from those genes to be prioritised for treatment and research. I bet you that a lot more is spent on research into erectile dysfunction than pre-eclampsia!

We have a sexist, racist (and classist - neglects poorer people) set of medical research and healthcare priorities.

Pregnant black women are particularly badly affected, because they often fit into all 3 neglected categories. Obviously they are both black and women but, on top of that, they are more likely than average to be socially deprived.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow you mean like make suicide, male deaths at work, male cancers?

Don't be dumb, it's due to their genetic predisposition for certain illness/diseases. The south Asian community rarely has mixed children so their illness are inherited.

Jewish women are at a greater risk of breast cancer, you know this right?

Don't be dumb, it's due to their genetic predisposition for certain illness/diseases

Quite the generalisation, for the 1.5 billion people of current or recent African heritage, there. An extremely genetically diverse group.

Given that we have not identified the genetic basis of pre-eclampsia, the medical world is going to be excited by your insights. Could you link to your research?

Such an absolute shame she died. I'm appalled by my country's health care system and the terribly high rates of Black women dying in childbirth.

I hope her tragic death will bring a spotlight on these disparities. So many other women's deaths in childbirth don't even make the headlines and the if they do you get predictable victim blaming. At least now, with a healthy Olympic athlete, no one can say, "oh she didn't take care of herself."

First of all this is so sad, and a terrible loss for all concerned. RIP.

The problem is, is that the problem is well known and it seems nothing is being done, or inadequate support at best. You would have thought that after headlines like this medical providers would be doubling their efforts. This is 5 years ago. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/07/beyonce-serena-williams-open-up-about-potentially-fatal-childbirths-a-problem-especially-for-black-mothers/

And in the UK we keep doing research. and what happens? Nothing
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/18/uk-maternity-care-is-in-a-bad-state-and-black-women-suffer-the-most

How very sad. She looks so strong and invincible in that photograph.

So sorry that happened. Some NHS hospitals seem to be cultish about 'natural birth' and do not listen to women at all, just want to look good on their caesar and induction rates - witness recent scandals over maternal and infant deaths (the victims of which were all white, as it happens). And it's women not listening to women that is most distressing.

This is so sad. It really hits home as I'm currently hospitalised with early onset preeclampsia at 19 weeks. I lost my baby girl at 20 weeks. It's hard to detect if you aren't aware and the symptoms are often very mild. I had it with my son at 34 weeks and my mum had it with me at 34 weeks so I knew what to look for both times. It's heartbreaking that she died. I'm so fortunate the midwives listened to me.

So sorry for your loss, @blahblahblah1654 , and very best wishes for this pregnancy.

So sorry you lost your baby girl, blahblahblah1654.

I'm so sorry, blahblahblah1654.

Hope all goes well for this pregnancy and birth.

It's very sad. What a talented woman to have her future stolen like that. I hope that the "black women are expected to tough it out" mentality prevalent in maternity care wasn't at play here.

America has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the industrialised world -- let's not trivialise how bad it is some other places. It's also scarily variable within the USA. Tori Bowie was originally from Mississippi, which has some of the worst health outcomes in the country and a chronic lack of investment in public health.

I gave birth in north London right around the time of the Northwick Park maternity scandal, and had severe pre-eclampsia. As I recall, all the dead women at that hospital were non-white, and several of the deaths were due to pre-eclampsia. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are still a leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide.

No one I know who had pre eclampsia was remotely sporty. By all means hypotheses should be explored but there just isn’t any basis to this one from a few anecdotes. I don’t for a moment think my only knowing non sporty women who had preeclampsia means there is no connection, but it does mean there is no meaningful reason to argue it, I’d want people to look at actual data!

This poor woman died because she’s a woman, black and pregnant. That’s the intersectionality we need to focus on.

Not having a go at your comment specifically @MissLucyEyelesbarrow it was just the latest I saw on the topic!

To be 8 months pregnant and to not be in touch with people days at a time so not missed is quite sad. It's saw a programme that reported that black people have poorer outcomes across illnesses generally which is difficult to get your head round really. I know they're doing a lot of research on it to try and turn it around but there are all sorts of issues tied up with it not just bigotry.

However, this was a famous, wealthy black woman who would have been paying for private care. It's hard to believe that she would have been ignored if she'd rung stating she had issues. Or indeed that she just wouldn't have gone straight to the doctors office or hospital. Is it possible that she fell unconscious during her sleep so could never make that call?

A total and utter tragedy. Condolences to her family.

The group Five X More campaigns on the issue of black women’s maternity outcomes in the U.K. there is also an all party parliamentary group looking specifically at black women and maternity.

Gracewithoutend · Today 03:18
To be 8 months pregnant and to not be in touch with people days at a time so not missed is quite sad. It's saw a programme that reported that black people have poorer outcomes across illnesses generally which is difficult to get your head round really. I know they're doing a lot of research on it to try and turn it around but there are all sorts of issues tied up with it not just bigotry.

However, this was a famous, wealthy black woman who would have been paying for private care. It's hard to believe that she would have been ignored if she'd rung stating she had issues. Or indeed that she just wouldn't have gone straight to the doctors office or hospital. Is it possible that she fell unconscious during her sleep so could never make that call?

A total and utter tragedy. Condolences to her family

I was thinking along these lines Grace. I wondering if there will be a coroner’s report?