Racial health disparities focus of Black Maternal Health Equity Summit at CSU

CLEVELAND, Ohio — As an historian and self-described reproductive justice advocate, Deirdre Cooper Owens sees the roots of present-day disparities in health care when she looks at the past. Beginning in the 17th century, physicians and scientists held the erroneous belief that Black women didn’t experience the pain of childbirth as white women did, said Cooper Owens, author of the 2018 book “Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology” ($27.95, University of Georgia Press). “The sad reality is, even in studies from the 21st century, you find medical practitioners at every level who believe Black people don’t experience pain in the same ways that white people do,” Cooper Owens said. “That’s a legacy we need to get rid of, because it is scientifically, biologically false.” Owens will discuss the intersection of race and health care as the keynote speaker at the first-ever Black Maternal Health Equity Summit, Sunday, April 14 at Cleveland State University. The Black Maternal Health Equity Summit is noon to 4 p.m. at the CSU Student Center Glasscock Ballroom, 2121 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Cost is free but registration is required. Deadline for registration is Tuesday, April 9. The event — sponsored by the Clinical...