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Something Was Wrong

S23 Ep14: Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice with Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, PhD, Founder CBMHRJ

Something Was Wrong

Broken Cycle Media

True Crime, Documentary, Education, Society & Culture

4.124.6K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

*Content warning: birth trauma, medical trauma, medical neglect, racism, death of an infant, infant loss, death, maternal loss, mature and stressful themes.


*Free + Confidential Resources + Safety Tips: somethingwaswrong.com/resources    


Center for Black Maternal Health & Reproductive Justice:

https://blackmaternalhealth.tufts.edu/


Center for Black Maternal Health & Reproductive Justice Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/cbmhrj_tufts/


Center for Black Maternal Health & Reproductive Justice Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/CBMHRJTufts/


Center for Black Maternal Health & Reproductive Justice LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbmhrjtufts/

Sources: 


Addressing Transportation Barriers to Improve Healthcare Access in Arizona

https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/674794 


Advancing Health Equity and Value-Based Care: A Mobile Approach

https://info.primarycare.hms.harvard.edu/perspectives/articles/mobile-clinics-in-the-us-health-system#:~:text=Mobileclinicsareaproven,thecriticalweeksafterbirth 


American College of Nurse Midwives

https://midwife.org/ 


American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)

https://www.acog.org/  


Birth Centers in Massachusetts

https://baystatebirth.org/birth-centers 


A Brief History of Midwifery in America

https://www.ohsu.edu/womens-health/brief-history-midwifery-america 


Clinical outcomes improve when patient’s and surgeon’s ethnicity match, study shows

https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/clinical-outcomes-patients-surgeons-concordance


The Controversial Birth of American Gynecology

https://researchblog.duke.edu/2023/10/27/the-controversial-birth-of-american-gynecology/ 


'Father Of Gynecology,' Who Experimented On Slaves, No Longer On Pedestal In NYC

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/17/603163394/-father-of-gynecology-who-experimented-on-slaves-no-longer-on-pedestal-in-nyc 


Governor Healey Signs Maternal Health Bill, Expanding Access to Midwifery, Birth Centers and Doulas in Massachusetts

https://www.mass.gov/news/governor-healey-signs-maternal-health-bill-expanding-access-to-midwifery-birth-centers-and-doulas-in-massachusetts#:~:text=GovernorHealeySignsMaternalHealthBillCExpanding,ExecutiveOfficeofHealthandHumanServices  


Governor Murphy Signs Bill Establishing Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Center

https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562023/approved/20230717a.shtml 


Helping Mothers and Children Thrive: Rethinking CMS’s Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model

https://www.milbank.org/quarterly/opinions/helping-mothers-and-children-thrive-rethinking-cmss-transforming-maternal-health-tmah-model/#:~:text=TheTransformingMaternalHealth(TMaH)Model&text=TheTMaHModelfocuseson,midwiferyservicesanddoulacare  


The Historical Significance of Doulas and Midwives

https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-significance-doulas-and-midwives


Infant Health and Mortality and Black/African American

https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/infant-health-and-mortality-and-blackafrican-americans#:~:text=In2022%2Ctheinfantmortality,Figure2  


Legislature Passes Comprehensive Maternal Health Bill

https://malegislature.gov/PressRoom/Detail?pressReleaseId=136


Life Story: Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy

https://wams.nyhistory.org/a-nation-divided/antebellum/anarcha-betsy-lucy/


Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Emergency Need for Updated Approach Due to Specific Circumstances, Resources, and Availabilities

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11643001/#:~:text=EtiologyandRiskFactorsof,insufficienttreatment%E2%80%9D%5B50%5D 


March of Dimes

https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/about-us      


Maternity Care Desert

https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/data?top=23 


Maternal deaths and mortality rates by state, 2018-2022

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/maternal-mortality/mmr-2018-2022-state-data.pdf  


Maternal Mortality in the United States After Abortion Bans

https://thegepi.org/maternal-mortality-abortion-bans/#:~:text=In2023%2CTexas'smaternalmortality,suffermaternaldeathin2023  

Maternal Mortality in the U.S Declined, though Disparities in the Black Population Persist

https://policycentermmh.org/maternal-mortality-in-the-u-s-a-declining-trend-with-persistent-racial-disparities-in-the-black-population/


Maternal Mortality Is on the Rise: 8 Things To Know

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/maternal-mortality-on-the-rise 

Maternal Mortality: How the U.S. Compares to Other Rich Countries

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2024-06-04/how-the-u-s-compares-to-other-rich-countries-in-maternal-mortality


Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States, 2021

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/maternal-mortality/2021/maternal-mortality-rates-2021.htm#:~:text=In2021%2C1%2C205womendied,20.1in2019(Table) 


Medical Exploitation of Black Women

https://eji.org/news/history-racial-injustice-medical-exploitation-of-black-women/


National Midwifery Institute

https://www.nationalmidwiferyinstitute.com/midwifery     


National Counsel of State Boards of Nursing

https://www.ncsbn.org/


North American Registry of Midwives (NARM)

https://narm.org/        


Outcome of subsequent pregnancies in women with complete uterine rupture: A population-based case–control study

https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aogs.14338#:~:text=outcomesarerare.-,1INTRODUCTION,experienceacompleteuterinerupture.&text=Completeuterineruptureisdefined,completeruptureofthemyometrium  


Pregnancy-Related Deaths: Data From Maternal Mortality Review Committees in 36 U.S. States, 2017–2019

https://www.cdc.gov/maternal-mortality/php/data-research/mmrc-2017-2019.html 


Preterm Birth

https://www.cdc.gov/maternal-infant-health/preterm-birth/index.html#:~:text=Pretermbirthrates&text=In2022%2Cpretermbirthamong,orHispanicwomen(10.1%25)   


Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current Status and Efforts to Address Them

https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/racial-disparities-in-maternal-and-infant-health-current-status-and-efforts-to-address-them/


The Racist History of Abortion and Midwifery Bans

https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/the-racist-history-of-abortion-and-midwifery-bans 


Reducing Disparities in Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5915910/#:~:text=Severemorbidityposesanenormous,ofseverematernalmorbidityevents  


State investigating Dallas birth center and midwives, following multiple complaints from patients

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/investigates/state-investigating-dallas-birth-center-midwives-following-multiple-complaints-from-patients/287-ea77eb18-c637-44d4-aaa2-fe8fd7a2fcef      


The State of Telehealth Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9035352/ 


Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR)

https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/     


U.S. maternal death rate increasing at an alarming rate<...

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Something Was Wrong is intended for mature audiences.

0:03.8

This season contains discussions of medical negligence, birth trauma, and infant loss,

0:10.2

which may be upsetting for some listeners.

0:13.1

For a full content warning, sources, and resources, please visit the episode notes.

0:19.9

Opinions shared by the guests of the show are their own, and do not necessarily represent

0:24.6

the views of myself, broken cycle media, and wondering.

0:29.1

The podcast in any linked materials should not be misconstrued as a substitution for legal

0:34.8

or medical advice.

0:37.0

Origins' birth and wellness owners and midwives,

0:40.1

Caitlin Wages and Gina Thompson,

0:42.6

have not responded to our requests for comment.

0:46.2

Additionally, midwives Jennifer Crawford and Elizabeth Fuwell

0:50.3

have also not returned our request for comment.

0:54.1

This season is dedicated with love to Malik.

1:01.9

You think you know me, you don't know me where I'm at all.

1:16.6

You don't know anybody until you talk to someone so long. Hi friends, this is Amy B. Chessler. As season 23 has progressed and especially over the last

1:42.9

couple weeks, many additional brave survivors

1:46.5

have reached out to us to share their experiences.

1:49.8

With that comes a lot of new evidence, and because we need to follow up on and fact-check

1:55.3

every lead before airing the season finale, we need some extra time.

2:00.3

In the meantime, today's special episode features a

2:03.2

conversation between the Broken Cycle Media Team and Dr. Nididia Makha Amuta Onukaga, founder and

...

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