‘Listen to Your Body’: Heart Attack Survivor’s Message to Black Moms

Photo credit: Advil Believe My Pain Despite the medical advancements and resources available, the journey to motherhood is often marred by disproportionate challenges for Black women. Deidra Rodriguez is all too familiar with these challenges. On February 8, 2021, Rodriguez went to the hospital to give birth to her daughter. Approximately two hours after giving birth, she began to feel discomfort in her chest and pain in her head. “I just didn’t feel normal. I felt like something was wrong so I expressed that to my nurse and she told me ‘Well you don’t have COVID so everything’s fine,’” Rodriguez recalls. Rodriguez spent the next two days in the hospital thinking she may have come down with a cold until the pain progressed.  “I explained to her again – I said I’m having a lot of pain and discomfort. Even my mouth – my mouth hurts – it feels like my teeth are almost falling out,” Rodriguez adds. “Is there anything I can get for pain relief?”  Rodriguez was once again denied treatment and told that her pain was normal and would go away in a few days.  “I was discharged and when I got home, my symptoms progressed. It...