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Paper short abstract:

In this paper I will explore racial disparities related to maternal health and rights in Europe and the US. I will show how, although the different healthcare systems, African migrant and Afro-descendant women experience health inequalities and differential treatments in both contexts.

Paper long abstract:

Moving from reproductive justice/ reproductive injustice literature (Ross, Solinger, 2017; Davis, 2019; Zakiya, 2020), I will explore racial disparities related to maternal health and rights in Europe and the United States. Starting from the findings of a comparative research study I have carried out among African migrant and Afro-descendant women I will highlight the cross-national dimension of health inequalities and differential treatments black women experience in both contexts.

In this framework, I will show how, although these populations ask for medical support in two different – and even opposed – healthcare systems, it is possible to found similar logics and dynamics in doctor-patient interactions. In particular, I will highlight how, together with socio-economic inequities, legal uncertainties and other systemic factors, racialized imaginaries health professionals share about black populations of mothers have an impact on the access to health services; the possibility to choose how to give birth; and the general well-being of black women and birthing people.

At the same time, I will critically reflect on the increasing role black doulas and black birth activists play in response to the poor – and differentiated – maternal care that is accessible / available to African migrant and Afro-descendant women in Europe and the United States.