Why Do So Many New Moms Feel Unheard By Their Doctors?
A new national survey of nearly 4,000 mothers found 4 in 10 didn't feel heard by the people delivering their babies.
Key takeaway: Yes — a 2026 national survey of nearly 4,000 mothers found that 4 in 10 didn't feel heard or listened to by their maternity care providers, and 43% said their knowledge and experience of their own bodies weren't valued. Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and multiracial mothers reported it happening even…
By Dear Sarah · · Updated
Key takeaways
- A 2026 survey of 3,857 mothers by the National Partnership for Women & Families found 4 in 10 didn't feel heard by their maternity care providers.
- 43% of mothers said their knowledge and experience of their own bodies weren't valued during pregnancy and birth.
- Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and multiracial mothers reported worse experiences of respectful care than other groups in the survey.
- Writing down concerns before an appointment and asking that they be documented in the chart makes dismissal harder to repeat.
- Feeling dismissed by a health care provider is a documented, measured pattern, not a personal overreaction.
If you've ever told a doctor something felt wrong and gotten a nod instead of an answer, here's a number that says you weren't imagining it: four in ten new mothers say they weren't heard or listened to by the people caring for them through pregnancy and birth. That's not one bad appointment on one bad day. That's a pattern, and it just got measured at national scale.
What the new survey actually found
The survey is called Listening to Mothers IV, and it's the most comprehensive look at this in a decade. Released in June by the National Partnership for Women & Families, alongside MomsRising and the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, it asked nearly 4,000 mothers of infants and toddlers across the country to describe their actual experience of pregnancy, birth, and the months after. Forty percent said they didn't feel heard or listened to by their maternity care providers. Forty-three percent said their own knowledge of their bodies and their pregnancies wasn't valued. Jocelyn Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, put it plainly: "Women are struggling at every stage of their birthing journeys – facing disrespect, being denied care and having their concerns dismissed."
That's not a niche complaint from a handful of unlucky patients. That's four in ten women, describing the most physically vulnerable stretch of their lives, saying the people in charge of their care weren't really listening.
Why does this happen more to some women than others?
The survey didn't find the same experience across the board. Black mothers, American Indian and Alaska Native mothers, and multiracial mothers reported worse experiences of respectful, attentive care than other groups. So did mothers on Medicaid, younger mothers, and mothers with disabilities. Layer enough of those factors on top of each other and you get a version of childbirth where being believed is the exception, not the rule.
It's the same root problem that shows up in why young women are losing trust in the health care system more broadly, and even in how differently AI tools listen to women when they're trained on data that already reflects whose symptoms got taken seriously and whose didn't. Dismissal isn't random. It follows the same lines bias always follows.
Why this matters even if you're nowhere near a delivery room
Maybe pregnancy isn't on your radar at all right now. This still matters, because the skill being measured here — a provider actually hearing you and adjusting care because of it — is the same skill you need for period pain nobody explains, for birth control side effects that get waved off, for the ten years it can take to get a PCOS or endometriosis diagnosis. The pattern starts long before anyone's expecting. It's also tangled up with something a lot of us do to ourselves before a doctor ever gets the chance to dismiss us: we hedge, we soften, we say "I don't know" about our own bodies before anyone's even asked us to doubt it. That instinct is worth noticing in yourself before you walk into any appointment where you need to be believed.
One thing to try today
Before your next appointment — any appointment, not just prenatal — write down the three things you most want the provider to actually register, in plain language, and hand it to them or read it out loud at the start. Ask that anything you raise gets documented in your chart, even if it doesn't get addressed that visit. It's a small move, but it turns "I mentioned something" into a paper trail, and a paper trail is a lot harder to talk over than a passing comment.
Quote to sit with
"Sometimes people just want to feel heard." — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah
💌 Sarah
Frequently asked questions
What is the Listening to Mothers IV survey?
It's a 2026 national survey from the National Partnership for Women & Families, MomsRising, and the Black Mamas Matter Alliance that asked nearly 4,000 mothers of infants and toddlers about their experiences of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care. It's described as the most comprehensive survey of its kind in a decade.
Why do so many women feel dismissed during pregnancy or childbirth?
Providers are often rushed and under-resourced, and research has long shown women's pain and symptoms get taken less seriously than men's. Add racial and economic bias on top and the result is a system where women, especially women of color and those on Medicaid, have to work harder to be believed.
Do doctors treat Black mothers differently than white mothers?
The Listening to Mothers IV survey found Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and multiracial mothers reported worse experiences of respectful, person-centered care than other groups, consistent with years of prior research on racial disparities in maternity care.
What can I do if I feel unheard by my doctor?
Write your symptoms and questions down before the appointment, ask that they be documented in your chart even if not addressed that visit, and bring someone who can back up what you said. If a concern gets brushed off twice, it's reasonable to ask for a second opinion.
Is this only a pregnancy issue?
No. The pattern of women's concerns being minimized shows up across health care broadly, including chronic pain, autoimmune conditions, and reproductive health, not only in maternity care.
Sources
- National Survey Reveals Maternal Health Care Failures; Women of Color Hit Hardest — National Partnership for Women & Families
- Listening to Mothers IV — National Partnership for Women & Families
- 4 in 10 Mothers Report Feeling Unheard During Maternity Care — Psychology Today
Keep reading
- Why Don't Young Women Trust the Health Care System? — A new national poll found young women are the most vocal generation saying health care fails them. Here's what the numbers actually show.
- Why Do Women Say “I Don’t Know” More Than Men? — New research says the gap between women and men saying “I don't know” isn't about knowledge. It's about who was taught it's safe to guess.
- Is Online Abuse Silencing Women Journalists? — A new UN Women report has a name for what's happening to women who speak up publicly: "the goal is silence." Here's what the data shows.
- What Did Michelle Obama Say About Self-Worth at Essence Fest? — Michelle Obama sat down with Keke Palmer at Essence Fest and said the quiet part out loud: your worth was never up for someone else's vote.