Perceptions of Follow-up Conversations
White Patients
“It’s nice to have that check-in. And, you know, she was the one who really got me to quit. And she wasn’t – she didn’t pressure by any means, but just the constant, just, checking in and, you know, ‘Are you okay with these risks?’ and, you know, just kind of all that stuff.” (White participant)
“Because quitting was hard for me, having somebody to be like, ‘I’m really proud of you.’ You know, ‘That’s great.’ Like, ‘We’re cheering for you.’ That made me feel good.” (White participant)
Black Patients
“I don’t need you to scold me. Like, you can give me all the brochures you want, you know… But I sbottomped already. Then they want to applaud you like it’s a miracle that you don’t do drugs. Like, it’s not a miracle. You know, like, I made this choice to get my baby here as healthy as possible….They want to praise you because they think like they broke the cycle, when it’s really, like it was you who decided not to smoke….I feel like the judgment that you pass, like drugs used to be so one-sided. Like, ‘Oh, your parents was on drugs.’ Like, you know, the history of drugs in the Black community, how it got here, what affects it had on people.” (Black participant)
Disclosure and Discrimination Concerns
“[My partner’s] thing is like, “We Black.” He’s like, ‘You know, they don’t take other people’s babies.’ He’s like, ‘We Black, they’re just looking for a reason.’” (Black participant)
“[My obstetrician] gave me a counselor. Like I had to meet with her… I was like, ‘I don’t even smoke no more.’ Then, she was like congratulating me on not smoking. But it made me feel like, you know, I know people who do hard drugs and they don’t get counselors. Like, you know, did you only give me a counselor because I’m Black? Like, or did you feel like I wasn’t capable of quitting weed on my own or that I need an extra like push to like sbottom smoking?” (Black participant)
“I think there might be a lot of reasons why women, especially in the Black community, turn to midwives. They don’t want to go into the hospitals. They don’t want to be judged, you know, when the midwives are going to be completely supportive, or these doulas, right? Everybody is talking about doulas nowadays. It’s a heavy conversation. So I feel like they are advocating more for what women really want, especially women in the Black community.” (Black participant)