5: Black Maternal Mortality and the Informatic Problem of Personal Experience

Seth interviews shaunesse’ jacobs. shaunesse‘ jacobs is a Ph.D. student in the Constructive Theology and Ethics track at the Boston University’s School of Theology. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Emory University, where she also completed a Master’s of Theological Studies and a Master’s in Bioethics. She is interested in communal incorporation of religious practices and theological doctrines when facing injustices in the U.S. healthcare system, specifically around the issue of black maternal mortality. This is part one of a two-part look at how questions of race are intertwined with healthcare. 

In this interview, Seth talks to shaunesse about black maternal mortality in the US. Maternal mortality refers to the rate of death  in childbirth per 100,000 pregnancies.  The key questions for this episode are: what factors lead to discrepancies in hospital care? Why would doctors differ in their assessment of the pain that is reported by their patients? How does the question of race intertwine with the care that someone receives? What does it mean to have trust in the doctor-patient relationship?