Actress Jodie Turner-Smith, who is married to actor Joshua Jackson, recently admitted that she gave birth at home because U.S. hospitals are awash in “systemic racism.”
“We had already decided on a home birth because of concerns about negative birth outcomes for black women in America,” the actress told British Vogue for its upcoming issue.
It is of note that this decision was made long before the COVID-19 crisis erupted around the globe. And Turner-Smith went on to add that the “negative birth outcomes” to which she was referring are caused by “systemic racism.”
“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,” the Queen & Slim star insisted.
Turner-Smith added that her home birth plans worked out in terms of timing, as the coronavirus came with new restrictions that would’ve compounded problems.
“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,” Turner-Smith said. “Delivering at home ensured that I had what every single woman deserves to have: full agency in determining my birth support.”
“Both of us had watched our own mothers struggle to raise children without such support. Both of us were determined to create something different for ourselves,” the actress concluded. “He kept saying to me, ‘There’s no part of this that I’m going to miss.’ And there wasn’t.”
Earlier this year, Turner-Smith tied her child to her beliefs about America’s “racism.” In January, the actress claimed that she would not raise her child in the U.S. because the country is steeped in “white supremacy.”
“White supremacy is overt,” she said of the country that made her and her husband millionaires and successful actors. “It’s the reason I don’t want to raise my kids here.”
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