Dr. Keisha Bentley-Edwards, assistant professor at the Duke University School of Medicine and expert in health equity, joined WUNC’s Embodied podcast to discuss the racial dimensions of the U.S. maternal health crisis, particularly for Black women in North Carolina.
Bentley-Edwards emphasized that while Medicaid expansion and hospital access are essential policy fixes, they cannot address the root cause without confronting the role of systemic racism:
As a black woman, oftentimes our advocacy is perceived as having an attitude or being misguided, and not really being acknowledged as being experts on our own body.”
Her commentary adds essential context to a broader conversation about healthcare deserts, financial disparities in Medicaid reimbursements, and the real, lived experiences of Black women navigating a system that often fails to respect their expertise and personhood.
Listen to the interview here: Embodied: The Long Drive To Safe Birth in NC
