19/11/2025
This video has been everywhere this week… and every time I watch it, I'm left speechless. But it's time to speak about it...
A Black woman, clearly in labour, clearly in pain, clearly about to have her baby,..literally ignored 😡
Twelve minutes later, she gave birth. Twelve minutes!! And not ONE person rushed to get her help 🤦🏽♀️
Look.. if you’re pregnant, I know this might look scary...but her screams weren’t because “birth is terrifying.” They were because she wasn’t given safety. Her nervous system didn’t feel held. She was alone, dismissed, and unsupported…
THIS is what happens when a woman is forced to birth in a space where she doesn’t feel protected.
This isn’t a “one-off”.
This is the f***ing system.
This is what racism in birth looks like.
And as a Black woman, this hits deep.
Because I’ve lived the micro-aggressions too.. yes even in Dubai.
I’ll never forget being in the NICU with my third baby, breastfeeding him, exhausted and worried.. while two white nurses stood to the side speaking Arabic (a language they assumed I didn’t understand!) wondering out loud “whose baby this was” because he was too white to belong to me, and I was too black to be his mom.
And it hasn’t stopped there.
Even today, as a doula standing in birth rooms supporting women, I’ve had doctors & midwives make subtle racist slurs because of the colour of my skin.
We like to pretend this doesn’t happen here.
But it does. It’s just quieter. Hidden under jokes, assumptions, and dismissals.
Call it micro-racism, call it bias, call it whatever makes it easier to digest...
But the impact is the same: Black mothers are not being seen, heard, or cared for the way they deserve.
I'm angry.
And I’m exhausted by the number of Black women who have similar stories.. in labour, in postpartum, in NICU...spaces that should make you feel safe.
Birth should NEVER look like this.
Every woman deserves dignity, support and compasionate care… regardless of the colour of their skin.
We have to talk about it.
We have to name it.
We have to demand better...for Black mothers, for ALL mothers.
Silence keeps the system comfortable.
Truth is what starts the change ✨
