Shatrevia Spikes didn’t have the greatest experiences growing up an “At-Risk” child. By the age of seven, she was already living an adult life caring for 2 younger brothers, cooking, cleaning, plowing a field, and finding a way to keep her family together without the state getting involved. She often asked herself, “why me?” Most kids couldn’t wait to be an adult, and she wasn’t looking forward to being one because she was already tired of the adult life. In her last year of high school, Shatrevia was faced with an at-risk pregnancy which had her in and out of the hospital. Being under a great deal of stress, with no family support, still striving to graduate, and carrying a child who was putting both their lives at risk, Shatrevia kept persevering. During the 26th week of her pregnancy, she was admitted into the hospital. Trust me, she was glad to hear the doctor say she was doing good, but they wanted to monitor her for one more night. Who would have known things would then turn for the worst? Around 11 o’clock that last night she thought she was just having really bad contractions, but she had gone into full blown labor. She pushed the call button multiple times, and there was no answer. She called her father’s house and was told she was alright, it’s just pregnancy. It seemed like every number she called after that went to voicemail, and she cried and screamed as loud as she could while pushing the call button. She thought about getting out of the bed and going out into the hallway, but the crown of her baby’s head was already forcing it’s way out. Shatrevia made one more call. She didn’t think the call would matter because it was out of town, but she called an uncle who answered the phone who helped her stay calm as he got on 3 way to call the hospital and get help. He couldn’t reach anyone, so he stayed on the phone until someone finally came in the room.

At 7 o’clock in the morning, the doctor came into Shatrevia’s room and found her laying in shock, tired, and nearly unresponsive. All Shatrevia remembers is the doctor yelling. The nurses and doctors were moving fast around her and speaking to her but it all sounded like she was in a tunnel and being ran down a hallway on the bed and waking up to a nurse telling her she did good. “Where is my baby? Is she alive?” Her baby survived, but was placed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and she wasn’t able to see her for a few hours. No one, not even family was by her side.  Not knowing if the the baby she decided to have would make it out alive, so much ran across her mind.When the time finally came to see her baby, all she could do was cry. Seeing a baby that’s not fully developed was hard, but to see that child struggling to breathe with tubes and IV’s attached to it was painful for a teenager to see. Shatrevia kept telling herself she was just fine, and in one more night she could go home. One of the most traumatic events happened in less than 24 hours. Her 2.5 lb baby ended up staying in the hospital for months. Some of you reading this must be wondering, “What happened to the nurse?” Well, when the doctor came into the room and found that I was in labor and shock, he yelled, “Where is the nurse that’s supposed to be caring for this child?” She left. When she was finally called, she told a nurse she didn’t want to care for me because I was black. The Doctor fired her, at least that’s what I was told. Usually when a new nurse comes into the patient’s room, they introduce themselves and write their name on the white board on the wall. Shatrevia had never met the nurse and there was no name.

Shatrevia had told friends and family about her experience. She called lawyers’ offices for help and her last resort was contacting and eventually going to the NAACP office. Help was nowhere to be found. The attorney’s office told her she would never get an attorney in Florida to help her go up against the hospital. When she went to the NAACP office, no one answered, and the door was locked with lights on and cars parked outside. So you see, not only is there a healthcare issue for people of color, but there is no justice when you are harmed. The community puts in place a system for injustice and people like Shatrevia are looked over. The more Shatrevia shared her story, she discovered that so many other women shared her experience. When does this end? Is this an issue of race? Was she faced with this because she had Medicaid? Or did this happen to Shatrevia because her family and the system failed her? There’s  a lack of trust on all sides. People don’t have trust in doctors due to systemic neglect, and lack trust in themselves. The more that people told me to give up and take care of my baby, the more I wanted to fight. I got tired of doors getting shut in my face and began to do what people said to – focus on my baby and take care of her. It’s like I grew conditioned to believe like others in my community believed. They believed there was no use in fighting. I was even told that if I didn’t put the issue aside I would cause more trouble for myself. In theory, there are many reasons why people are afraid of this system, but the truth is there are people, corporations, and systems that work together to bring about a particular result for good or bad. – Submitted by Shatrevia Spikes