Actress Kyla Pratt is sharing the story of the challenges she faced while she was in labor with her second daughter in 2013. Pratt opened up during a roundtable discussion to talk about how difficult it can be to navigate birth as Black women, and how there are systemic barriers to getting the care you deserve.
Speaking on an episode of the award-winning show Recipe for Change, where celebrities, chefs, and other creators talk over dinner about challenges they face, Pratt was featured on a episode called "Revolutionizing Black Motherhood." The episode's focus was the hardships Black women face at the hands of the healthcare industry.
The conversation was co-hosted by actress Tatyana Ali and chef Nyesha Arrington. They were joined by singer Melanie Fiona, entrepreneur Lizzy Mathis, licensed midwife and engagement director Kim Durdin as well as Pratt. The women got together to share their experiences trying to navigate the healthcare system as Black women, which comes with challenges.
"I remember for my second pregnancy, I went into labor early," Pratt revealed. She gave birth to her second daughter, Liyah Kirkpatrick, in 2013, and her oldest daughter, Lyric Kirkpatrick, in 2010. "Being in the hospital, I told the nurse there I was having contractions; she looked at the machine and said, ‘No, you weren’t,’ and I said, ‘Yes, I am. I’ve done this before; go get my doctor.'"
She continued, "Luckily, standing up for myself in that moment, my daughter is here now. She went to get my doctor; my doctor said, ‘You’re 6 cm dilated, and we have to do an emergency C-section.' But because I was so small, it wasn’t showing up on the machine. In that moment, I didn’t really recognize when people weren’t listening to me, because I was young, because I am Black, because I am a woman."
