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Atlanta, GA (WGCL) — Georgia is number one on a dubious list. More women in our state die after giving birth than in any other state.
Nearly 500 have died in the last decade. It’s a health crisis.
One woman and one Atlanta hospital is trying to reverse the troubling trend.
You may know her from her popular television show that runs on Peachtree TV but what you may not know is Judge Glenda Hatchett is fighting through the pain of a gut wrenching loss that she maintains should never have happened.
On APRIL 12, 2016, Judge Hatchett’s daughter-in-law Kira and her son, Charles, arrived at the hospital, ready to welcome the newest member of their growing family.
“We’re all there, we’re excited, this is their second baby, this is a planned, scheduled c-section. This is not an emergency,” said Hatchett.
Their bouncing baby boy arrived and then things took a horrible turn. Over the next 12 hours, Kira’s health rapidly deteriorated.
Her husband Charles noticed blood in Kira’s catheter. The nursing staff ordered a CT scan immediately, but it would be several more hours before Kira was taken back to the operating room.
When they opened her up, she immediately coded, her heart stopped beating, and there were three and a half liters of blood in her abdomen.
“What I did not know and I do know now, that this was not a rare occurrence in America,” continued Hatchett.
The United States is the only developed nation in the world to have a rising maternal death rate. About 18 women die for every 100,000 live births, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Georgia continues to be one of the worst states to give birth.
Atlanta’s Northside Hospital delivers more babies than any other community hospital in the country. In 2016, Northside topped at least one national survey with more than 27 thousand babies delivered annually.
Experts say most maternal deaths in the United States are preventable. Major causes include infections, hemorrhages, and high blood pressure.
Even more shocking, black women are 4 times more likely to die in childbirth than white women.
That’s why the facility is proud of the severe maternal morbidity committee at Northside, created to come up with solutions to the problem.
Medical professionals agree that while there are ways to monitor the warning signs, access to health care and lack of birthing hospitals prevents pregnant women from maintaining their health throughout their pregnancies and that could put them at a higher risk for complications during and after childbirth.
But that wasn’t the case for Kira Johnson. Her family did everything right and she still died.
Now, Kira’s family is hoping for solutions, so that more mothers can live to raise their children.
Judge Hatchett and her son are fighting to ensure Kira didn’t die in vain.
They’re working with members of Congress on a law that would mandate standards on how maternal cases are reviewed.
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