On Thursday 19 September 2024, the Crash team was delighted to welcome Priscille Sauvegrain for a conference on medical practices in maternal health in France and the role played by racial categories. This meeting, prepared with Caroline Izambert, was moderated by Judith Soussan. 

In France, the caesarean section rate among women born in African countries is well above average. How can this be explained? How does the categorisation of certain patients as ‘African’ affect the quality of care they receive? Is it medically justifiable to provide care that is differentiated according to origin?

Priscille Sauvegrain, a midwife and sociologist, University lecturer in midwifery, has been exploring these questions for the past twenty years in maternity units in the Paris region, using a wide range of survey methods: participant observations, interviews with patients and professionals, and statistical analyses. It gives an account of the obstacles and difficulties involved in studying these issues within a healthcare community that is very attached to equality of care, and also affected by the difficulties of the French public hospital system.

For MSF, an organisation that has been involved in debates about racism for several years now, Priscille Sauvegrain's work provides concrete food for thought on the subject, from the angle of medical practices and quality of care.