The Big Story The deadly impacts of Canada's lack of race-based health data
Feb 26, 2026
Kearie Daniel, founder of the Black Women's Institute for Health and leader in research on Black women's health, discusses Canada's lack of race-based maternal health data. She shares international disparity context. Conversations cover myths about pain and care, the Voices Unheard survey, alarming mental-health signals, and community-led supports like Mothering Minds.
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Myth Of Higher Pain Threshold Harms Care
- Medical racism persists through myths like Black people having higher pain thresholds, leading to delayed pain management in childbirth.
- Kearie recounts a woman denied pain meds and then visited by a social worker unnecessarily, risking child welfare involvement.
Denied Pain Led To Unnecessary Social Worker Visit
- A Black mother was in severe post-delivery pain, denied medication, then had a social worker sent despite no need.
- That intervention introduced risk of child removal based on assumptions about her pain and motives.
Canada Never Counted Black Women's Health
- Canada has never systematically asked Black women about their health, so there was no national data until Voices Unheard.
- The Black Women's Institute for Health ran the first national survey after finding Statistics Canada and national bodies lacked this information.