Dr. Jackie Walters, star of Married to Medicine, defended herself on social media when an old video of her claiming that black women frequently “cry wolf” about their pregnancy pains surfaced.
The resurfaced clip of Dr. Jackie reinforcing the harmful stereotype that black people exaggerate their pain when visiting the doctor has landed her in hot water.
“The almost two-hour video was edited out of context to give the impression that I somehow minimize the serious issues I have raised about the dire state of the black maternal health crisis,” the actress stated on her Instagram Story. “It has been my life’s work to highlight and attempt to rectify the issues that devastatingly impact black maternal mothers versus our counterparts.”
Dr. Jackie Walters continued, “As we continue to face medical mistreatment and gaslighting, my intention with the broader conversation was to ensure patients enter their pregnancies armed with information and tools to effectively communicate their needs with their doctors to ensure a positive outcome.”
She said, “The reason I became an OBGYN is because, growing up, I saw such a lack of diversity among medical professionals and was determined to be a part of the change,” even though she didn’t apologize for the video.
Related stories
“I’ve fought for the rights of black moms and babies yesterday, today, and tomorrow”.
The video in question is from a live YouTube stream she did in April 2020 with Dr. Heavenly Kimes, her castmate from Married to Medicine.
In the now-infamous video, the medical officer said, “Sometimes as African-American women, we’re a bit more dramatic and that you go to the doctor, and you complain, and you complain, and you complain, and you’re not taken seriously because you cry wolf the entire pregnancy.”
Research demonstrates that doctors don’t take pregnant black women’s pains seriously, which runs counter to Dr. Jackie Walters’s assertions.
Reports claim that Dr. Jackie said that medical professionals believe that black patients overstate their symptoms and have higher pain thresholds due to racial bias in the field.
Given that black women are more likely than other women to die during childbirth, this is an especially serious issue for them. But in the video, the most popular OBGYN in Atlanta claimed that black women are “more dramatic” when they get pregnant. She implied that they “cry wolf” to twist the facts and obtain longer vacation time.