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An illustration of a Black fetus in the womb went viral last December with many people commenting on social media that it was the first time they had seen a depiction of a dark-skinned fetus or pregnant woman.
The attention came as a surprise to Chidiebere Ibe, the Nigerian first-year medical student who created the image, and describes it as "just one of my drawings to advocate for diversity in medical illustrations."
The image started a discussion about a lack of representation in these illustrations -- images that are mostly found in textbooks and scientific journals to show medical pathologies and procedures.
Ibe, 25, who is creative director at the Association of Future African Neurosurgeons, has now been invited to have some of his illustrations published in the second edition of a handbook designed to show how a range of conditions appear on dark skin.
"Mind the Gap: A clinical handbook of signs and symptoms in Black and Brown Skin," was first published in 2020. Co-author Malone Mukwende, a medical student in London, wrote over email that "Chidiebere's work ... unearths some of the biases that exist in medicine in plain sight that we may not be aware of. Representation in healthcare is imperative to ensure that we do not allow implicit biases to cultivate in our heads."
