In many health facilities around the world, people giving birth can walk into different realities. There’s the experience of people who have connections or who belong to the right group. Then there’s the experience of those walking into an unfamiliar place, lacking resources or stature. These disparities hit home for Dr. Patience Afulani, Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, when she reflected on her experiences giving birth in Ghana, in a hospital where she worked as a doctor, and in a US hospital as a graduate student. Knowing that not every woman who walked in the door would be given the same respect and attention inspired her to devote her work to understanding and improving the quality of maternal health care.
