I have heard people talk about defining moments in their careers. I think this week was mine.⠀
I found the sweet spot.⠀
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The spot where science and data and advocacy meet.⠀
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Yesterday really was a dream. I stood in front of 1700 leaders in Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and presented our research on preterm birth rates among women of high socioeconomic status. We showed that even when you just look at a population of women with similar education levels, private insurance, and not on government assistance, black women AND mixed-race women continue to have higher rates of preterm birth than white women.⠀
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At the end, I called out institutional racism as the cause for the disproportionate number of adverse birth outcomes for women of color.⠀
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It was a call to action. It was a call to stop avoiding the hard conversations and to not get complacent because lives are at stake.⠀
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When I was putting together my presentation, I didn’t know how it was going to go over with the crowd, but I knew I could not mince words.⠀
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Not only was it well received, but I went on to receive the award for best research in health disparities. For the remainder of the conference, I was stopped by many congratulating me on a job well done, but the moments I will never, ever forget are the moments when black MFMs, that paved the way for me and every black MFM fellow (and resident, and medstud) stopped me to say that they were so proud.⠀
I have no words except to tell you when you use your gifts, the world makes room for you.
#EvidenceBasedAdvocacy #EndHealthDisparities #RacismNOTRace #SMFM20 #SMFM #maternalfetalmedicine
