‘Queen & Slim’ Actress Jodie Turner-Smith Opted For Home Birth Due To ‘Systemic Racism’
‘Queen & Slim‘ actress Jodie Turner-Smith revealed that she opted for a home birth of her baby girl due to “systemic racism.” Turner-Smith, who’s married to former ‘Dawson’s Creek,’ star Joshua Jackson, says well before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the couple had already planned to deliver at home in April.
The 33-year-old new mom tells British Vogue, “We had already decided on a home birth because of concerns about negative birth outcomes for black women in America. According to the [CDC], the risk of pregnancy-related deaths is more than three times greater for black women than for white women, pointing, it seems to me, to systemic racism.”
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While avoiding the risks of entering a hospital, Turner-Smith and 42-year-old Jackson spent four days together while the mommy-to-be was in labor. She adds, “We never imagined that in the coming weeks, hospitals around the country would begin restricting who could be present in the birthing rooms, forcing mothers to deliver without the support person or people of their choice. Delivering at home ensured that I had what every single woman deserves to have: full agency in determining my birth support.”