Married to Medicine’s Dr. Jaqueline “Jackie” Walters is in the hot seat after the surfacing of an old video clip of her saying pregnant Black women are “playing the games” during their pregnancy. 

The respected Atlanta OB-GYN has been a doctor for more than 20 years and has become a household name in the medical industry. She has been a part of Bravo’s M2M cast since it debuted 10 years ago in March 2013. During the most recent episode of the hit series, which aired on Dec. 17, the reality TV star had a conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris about the disproportionate maternity mortality rates that Black women face in America. According to the CDC, the maternal mortality rate for Black women is 2.6 times greater than the maternal mortality rate for white women.

“I want to be a part of the solution for maternity mortality and spreading awareness is so important,” she said in the episode during her conversation with Harris.

 

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Despite the scene being informative, it also stirred up some controversy due to previous comments Walters made about Black women’s actions during their pregnancies. During a YouTube Live video with her castmate Dr. Heavenly Kimes, the doctor shared that women of color must stop complaining about pains while they’re pregnant so they can be taken seriously when a true concern arises.

“Sometimes as African Americans women, we’re a bit more dramatic and that you go to the doctor and you complain and you complain and you complain and you’re not taken seriously because you cry wolf the entire pregnancy,” the 65-year-old told the dentist, according to Page Six.

“We wanna also make sure that you’re being serious with your doctor and not playing the games so that could take you off work,” she added. “Because then we see you 25 times in the pregnancy, it’s hard to believe there’s a true problem when there’s a true problem.”

As she is now someone who is spreading awareness about the disparities in maternal health care, Black Twitter called out that her prior comments don’t align with her recent stance on the subject:

According to Page Six, Walters reposted a quote from former NFL player Deion Sanders on her Instagram story that read, “Don’t allow frustration to enter the room. Stay calm, cool & conscious. Life is just trying, testing & teasing u to provoke u to do more & to promote u to the next level. Go thru what you’ve got to go thru so u can go to what you’re destined to go to. Win Win & Win daily. Let’s go,” and wrote the word “Amen” above it.

In addition, she just released a statement to address the video snippet that’s spreading like wildfire, in which she stated her words were misconstrued on Instagram and that she would never do what she’s been accused of.

“Recently, a clip from a nearly 2 hour video was taken out of context to make it appear that I, somehow, take lightly, what I have advocated for concerning the devastating problem facing the Black maternal health crisis,” the statement read. “It has been my life’s work to highlight and attempt to rectify the issues that devastatingly impact Black maternal mothers versus our counterparts.”

She continued, “As a physician, I educate my patients everyday to be their own best health advocate. As we continue to face medical mistreatment and gaslighting, my intention with the broader conversation was to ensure patients enter their pregnancies armed with information and tools to effectively communicate their needs with their doctors to ensure a positive outcome.”

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