Your care. Your voice.

False beliefs about pain

In a 2016 study, about half of the white medical students and residents surveyed believed at least one false idea about Black bodies, like "Black people's skin is thicker." The ones who held those beliefs rated a Black patient's pain as lower and made less accurate treatment choices.

A 2019 review of 14 emergency-room studies found Black patients were less likely than white patients to get pain medicine for the same kind of sudden pain.

Being dismissed

In the CDC maternity survey, 45% of all mothers said they held back questions or worries during maternity care. Women on public insurance or no insurance reported more mistreatment than women with private insurance.

When a woman stays quiet, warning signs can be missed. That's why speaking up, and having someone speak up with you, matters so much.

Late diagnosis of fibroids and endometriosis

More than 80% of Black women will have fibroids by age 50. Even so, many women live with heavy, painful periods for years before they get treatment, because they've been told it's "normal."

A 2019 review found Black women were about half as likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis as white women. The authors and other experts say this may come from doctors not looking for it, not from Black women having it less.

Insurance and access

Black adults are more likely than white adults to have no health insurance, and about 1 in 10 U.S. women ages 19–64 had no coverage in 2024. The extra federal tax credits that lowered marketplace prices ended after 2025, and KFF expects more people to lose coverage.

Federal reports have found that Black patients get worse care than white patients on many quality measures. Follow-up care after an abnormal mammogram is often slower, too.

Clear health information

A national adult survey found that many Americans struggle with health forms, medicine labels and test results. Black and Hispanic adults were more likely to score at the lowest level. This is about whether clear teaching reached people, not about how smart they are.

No one should have to decode their own care. You can say "Explain that in plain words" as many times as you need.

Trust that was broken

Tuskegee, 1932–1972: the U.S. Public Health Service followed 600 Black men in Alabama, 399 of them with syphilis. They were never told the truth. When penicillin became the treatment of choice in 1943, it was kept from them.

Henrietta Lacks, 1951: doctors at Johns Hopkins took her cervical cancer cells without her knowledge or consent. Her cells became HeLa, the cells behind decades of research. In 2013 the NIH finally gave her family a say in how her genetic data is used.

First gynecologist visit: ages 13 to 15

ACOG recommends a girl's first reproductive health visit between 13 and 15. For most girls it is mostly a talk: normal periods, body changes, healthy relationships, how to stay safe, and vaccines.

• An inside (pelvic) exam is usually not needed at the first visit unless there's a problem like very heavy bleeding or bad pain.
• She can ask to talk with the doctor alone for part of the visit.
• Moms: bring her period tracker or notes about her cycle.

More for girls and parents on our Puberty and Periods pages.

Bring these to every visit

• A list of every medicine, vitamin, herb and tea you take, with doses. (Herbs can interact with medicines. See our Herbs page.)
• The date your last period started, and anything unusual.
• Your family health history.
• Your last test results, if they're from another office.
• Your top 3 questions, written down.

By 25: a risk check

The American College of Radiology says every woman, especially Black women and Ashkenazi Jewish women, should get a breast cancer risk assessment by age 25. It's a conversation and a short questionnaire about family history, genes, past chest radiation and more.

Ask: "Can you calculate my lifetime breast cancer risk? Do I need to start screening before 40?"

From 40: mammograms

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says women at average risk should get a mammogram every 2 years from 40 to 74. The ACR recommends every year from 40.

Talk with your clinician about which schedule fits you. Both groups agree on one thing: start at 40, not 50.

Higher risk: start earlier

If you have a gene change like BRCA1, a lifetime risk of 20% or more, or chest radiation when you were young, the ACR recommends a yearly breast MRI starting at 25–30, and yearly mammograms starting between 25 and 40 depending on your risk.

Women diagnosed before 50, or with a past cancer and dense breasts, should get a yearly MRI too.

Changes to get checked

• A new lump or thick spot in the breast or underarm, even if your last mammogram was normal
• Swelling, warmth, or redness or darker color of the skin
• Skin that dimples or looks like an orange peel
• A nipple that turns inward, or discharge you didn't squeeze out (especially bloody)
• Pain in one spot that doesn't go away
• A change in size or shape of one breast

Triple-negative and inflammatory breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer doesn't respond to hormone treatments. It is more common in Black women, younger women and women with a BRCA1 gene change. It often shows up as a lump you can feel, and it can grow between mammograms. A new lump needs a diagnostic test right away. It should not wait until your next screening.

Inflammatory breast cancer is rare, but more common in Black women. It often has no lump. Look for swelling, redness, warmth and orange-peel skin that comes on over weeks. If an antibiotic doesn't clear a "breast infection" quickly, ask about it by name.