PHILADELPHIA - Dr. Shawana Moore was 38 weeks pregnant when she found herself in the emergency room when she found herself suddenly becoming the patient.When Moore first became pregnant, she told her doctors her family had a history of preeclampsia and high blood pressure.
She says they brushed her off and told her she would be fine - until she developed severe preeclampsia 38 weeks into her pregnancy,Moore was rushed straight to the ER to give birth to her son.
However, she says it was during her hospital stay afterwards that she truly experienced implicit bias."Bells and whistles were going off," she said. "My husband looked shocked and afraid not knowing what was going on.
Nobody came into the room."Dr. Shawana Moore It wasn't until one of her former students who worked at the hospital stepped up and advocated for her."Proved to me that day that we teach in the classroom translates to clinical practice," Moore said.Now, Moore is the board of chair of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health, an organization that highlights the importance for nurse practitioners to advocated for black maternal health."All of us have implicit bias, regardless of what profession we're in."However, Moore does believe we are heading in the right direction.