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Ayanna Smith gave birth to her third son at 1:05 am on New Year's Day. She hardly knew that one of her happiest moments would become one of the scariest.
"Shortly after his release, I remember being extremely dizzy," Smith said. He was extremely brilliant and I saw stars everywhere. I just remember them placing it on me. I just told them, "I can not move. I could not move. "
His mother, Sandra Smith, remembered the horror of looking in the delivery room.
"You came out of this euphoria watching this little person come out," she said. "Suddenly, you see just a river of blood."
Sandra Smith watched the doctors remove her grandson from her mother's arms. She watched her daughter turn pale. his lips were purple. It was at that point that she realized that the delivery was disastrous.
An emergency blood transfusion saved Ayanna's life.
Ayanna is not alone
Ayanna Smith is one of 50,000 women each year who are nearly dying as a result of childbirth. It's a mother every 10 minutes in the United States.
The causes of most near-death emergencies are preventable. However, the risk of complications is much greater for black women.
"If you are black and very educated, you still have a higher probability of pregnancy-related death than the less educated white woman," said Dr. William Callaghan, Chief of the Maternal and Child Health Department at the Centers. for Disease Control. "It's amazing, the only difference is the color of the skin."
Ayanna felt that her medical team had assumed that she would be like everyone else and missed the warning signs of her condition.
"They had checked the records, or if I had a regular doctor, if that was a way for them to mark that it was [my] problem – pay attention to that, be aware of that, they would have been better prepared for my arrival than having to fix the problem after that has already happened, "she said.
Some health professionals do not think racism is to blame.
"We have a huge population of African American patients, and I have no doubt that we are giving them exactly the same care as anyone," said Dr. Sujatha Reddy, Women's Health Specialist.
Some 800 mothers a year do not survive childbirth.
Kira Johnson was one of them. She died of bleeding 12 hours after the birth of her second son.
"When that happened, when my wife died of a preventable cause related to childbirth, I thought Kira was an anomaly," said Charles Johnson, Kira's husband.
The couple had their first child, baby Charles, about a year before their spontaneous marriage to Mexico. (Photo: Courtesy of the family)
In the two years since Kira's death, Charles has learned the tragic truth.
"In a country that is the richest and richest in the world, it is ridiculous that it happens," he said.
Losing a dream
Ayanna survived the delivery but lost something else in the delivery room. She has always dreamed of having a little girl someday.
"She and her husband have decided that no, they will not go because of what happened next, it crushed me because I know that my daughter wants a girl and that she She will not go through that because of that … it's not fair, "said Sandra, Ayanna's mother.
"I do not want to try anymore," Ayanna said. "I think it has affected my husband a lot, because I do not think he wants me to give birth again … If we wanted a girl, I do not know if we are living this experience again."
Fight for change
April 12 is the birthday of Kira and the youngest son of Charles Johnson. We will also remember the day of Kira's death.
Charles knows that someday he will have to tell his sons how their mother died.
"I expect that after the conversation … my sons will ask me:" Dad, what did you do about it? " he said.
"It's important to me that I can look them in the eyes and say:" Son, you know we lost but they did not win. "It's the work we've done It's the legacy that your mother has left That's why other people do not have to worry about what we've lived in. And that's what's important to me. "
In recent years, Charles has lobbied Congress for it to pass two bills: HR1318 and the MOMS Act.
HR 1318 instructs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish programs to review pregnancy-related deaths in each state called Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRC).
These groups seek answers about the causes of a mother's death. They are also investigating what could have prevented it from dying. This information helps to create action plans seeking solutions to prevent this from happening to another mother.
Under HR 1318, states should develop procedures for mandatory reporting to health departments.
"We can look at each death and make sure that every woman's death counts. There is a lesson on how to improve quality, "said Dr. William Callaghan." We will be able to understand where things went wrong. . "
The MOMS Act is a bill that would help states and hospitals fund programs to reduce the number of pregnancy-related deaths.
Kira's mother-in-law, Glenda Hatchett's judge of the reality show, said she was proud of the work done by her son.
"I know that Charles's advocacy work will save lives," she said. "It will make a difference – there will be other families who will not know the pain we have known, who will not have to explain to a child that his mother never comes home, will have to explain if you say wanna go to heaven because i want to see my mum .. it's … no family should go through there. "
At present, the two bipartisan bills seem to stall on Capitol Hill. Charles Johnson said he would not stop fighting.
"My philosophy is to wake up, make my mom proud, repeat. That's all. And that's how I do it day after day. Day after day, he says.
Here is a link to help you find your conference members if you want to contact them about bills.
► CHAPTER ONE: Why childbirth is a death sentence for many black mothers
NEXT CHAPTER: American mothers die in childbirth. What can you do about it
© 2018 WXIA
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