Birthing Experiences of Black Mothers within the U.S. Healthcare System: A Black Feminist Investigation

Disparities in Black maternal mortality in the United States are a health injustice. To understand Black women's communicative experiences of birthing with their providers, we interviewed 20 Black women who had given birth within the past three years. Our analysis reveals how interconnected domains of power shape Black women's uncertainty, fear, and experiences during reproductive healthcare interactions. Participants described racializing encounters with their healthcare teams marked by dismissal, silencing, and impersonal care. In resisting these problematic encounters, Black women employed communicative strategies, including researching birthing expectations, identifying racially concordant providers, and utilizing friends, family members, or doulas to negotiate for themselves or on their behalf during birthing. We advance the literature on uncertainty communication by arguing that the matrix of domination offered by Black Feminist Thought shapes uncertainties in reproductive healthcare communication encounters for Black women in the United States.