Are you even listening?!? Black women do not trust hospitals!

If Serena Williams wasn’t heard, what chance do the rest of us have?

The Unspoken Truth: Why Black Women Fear Hospitals

Let’s be one hundred percent clear—hospitals are not spas or luxury resorts with cozy vibes. For many Black women, the fear of stepping into a hospital goes way beyond cold floors and bad hospital food. It is an unjust history, a legacy of unethical medical treatments, mistreatment, and trauma passed down like an unwanted fruitcake. The result? Many of us avoid hospitals because they are haunted, delay prenatal care, or turn to alternative childbirth and childcare options. And honestly, who can blame us? Look at the cruelty we have endured for centuries—without so much as an apology.

A Not-So-Shiny Yellow Brick Road of Medical History

Hold my hand as we take a trip down history’s dark corridors. Black women’s bodies have been treated as medical test subjects for centuries, and the receipts are all over history books—hidden in plain sight.

Have you ever heard of Dr. J. Marion Sims? The so-called “father of gynecology” conducted medical experiments on enslaved Black women without anesthesia, believing that we did not feel pain. Imagine a doctor performing major surgery on your lower extremities—WIDE AWAKE. That kind of horror does not just disappear from our collective psyche.

Then there’s Margaret Sanger, the founder of the American Birth Control League, aka Planned Parenthood, who, with financial backing from J. Rockefeller, has approximately 200 “health centers,” making sure to focus primarily on the South. Their goal? To forcibly sterilize Black women deemed “unfit” or “undesirable” in the name of eugenics. That’s another article that we will most definitely dive into later because, whew lawd, I have a lot to pick through with that one.

And let’s not forget Henrietta Lacks. Her cells were taken without her consent and used for groundbreaking research, all while her family saw none of the benefits. They only found out decades later when a scientist went looking for blood samples from her descendants. Lacks passed away in 1951—her family discovered the truth in 1971.

Then, there were the Mississippi Appendectomies—a term describing the forced sterilization of Black women under the guise of routine medical procedures. Many walked into clinics for minor checkups and left permanently unable to bear children. This isn’t ancient history; it happened as recently as 40 years ago. It could have been your grandmother. It could have been your mother.

The Fear Is Not Irrational—It’s Survival

When your ancestors have been medically mistreated for centuries, it is not paranoia—it’s fear. It’s self-preservation. Black women walk into hospitals knowing that they will not be heard, their pain will be dismissed, and they may leave in worse condition than when they arrived. The sinking feeling in the waiting room, the silent prayer that the doctor will advocate for you instead of dismissing you—it’s a weight we carry.

And this isn’t just anecdotal. The statistics back it up. Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. Even Serena Williams, one of the most famous and financially privileged Black women in the world, almost died during childbirth because doctors refused to take her symptoms seriously. Now, imagine the average Black mother making $40,000 a year trying to navigate the same system.

A Broken System and the Rise of Alternatives

The deep-seated mistrust between Black women and hospitals has led many to skip prenatal care altogether. The fear of unnecessary interventions, like C-sections (which bring hospitals 50% more profit than vaginal births), makes many hesitate. Some won’t go to the hospital until they are crowning. Others prefer dealing with EMTs in an ambulance over the judgment of nurses.

Then, there’s the alternative route—home births, midwives, and doulas. The resurgence of Black maternal health movements has brought back birthing traditions that our ancestors relied on before hospitals existed. More Black women are becoming midwives and doulas, turning to holistic prenatal care, and reclaiming their birthing stories.

But let’s be clear: for many, this is not a choice—it’s a necessity. Some do not feel safe in hospitals. Others lack access to quality prenatal care due to systemic barriers like income, location, and insurance.

Black women should not have to flip a coin when it comes to their health and safety. We deserve the same standard of care as every other race and class. And until that happens, the mistrust will remain—because history has taught us that the fear is justified.

This has been Zsanine R. Gross for Black Cognitive Rebirth.

What was your “oh hell no” moment from a doctor’s visit? Or if you’ve had a great experience, what was it that made all the difference (and who was the doctor 👀)?