After a 26-year-old woman died during a caesaran section earlier this month, family members and Black healthcare advocates are calling for a change in maternal health care as it concerns Black women.

Sha-Asia Washington and her boyfriend Juwan Lopez arrived at Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn on July 2 to get her low blood pressure checked, reports AMNY. Washington was a few days past her due date, so the hospital kept her for observation. The doctors then gave her Pitocin to induce labor before asking Washington if she wanted an epidural, according to Rolling Stone. The publication reported that after some hesitation, Washington agreed.

She went into cardiac arrest soon after, leading doctors to rush her into an emergency cesarean section.

“The next thing you know he’s waiting there and they start running her down the hallway to the operating room,” Desiree Williams, Lopez's mother who he was on FaceTime with him at the time, told Rolling Stone. “He’s just screaming, ‘What happened? What happened?’ And nobody’s answering. Then somebody said the baby’s heart rate started dropping.”

Washington and Lopez's daughter, Khloe, was born healthy. Doctors attempted to resuscitate Washington for 45 minutes before pronouncing her dead.

“I never thought I’d get a phone call from my brother and he’s holding his baby and they just told him that her heart has stopped,” Jasmin Lopez, Juwan's sister, said according to The City. “How does your heart stop at 26?”

Jasmin said Washington’s family conducted an independent autopsy which concluded that she died from the epidural.

“They were giving her too much medication. She said she didn’t want [the epidural], and they forced it on her,” Jasmin said.

Monica McLemore, associate professor in the family healthcare nursing department at the University of California San Francisco, said complications from anesthetics is one of the top 10 causes of deaths during labor. She also said Black and brown women are more likely to feel “pressure and coercion or being repeatedly asked to do things you’ve already declined” during childbirth.

Jasmin said Washington had no other complications during her pregnancy and no preexisting health conditions.

On Thursday, about 100 people, including Washington’s friends and family, protested in front of Woodhull. They held up signs that said “Justice for Khloe,” “Black lives matter” and “Justice for Sha-Asia," AMNY reported.

Williams said her son is devastated over Washington’s death.

“I’m staying up all night holding the baby that she should be here holding,” she said. “It’s not fair, it’s not right. My son is broken down, it’s not right.”

Juwan had been planning to propose to Washington, but he wanted to wait until after their daughter was born so their child could be a part of the special moment.

He said a photo he'd taken of Washington in the hospital bed before giving birth was their “last happy moment."

Washington’s death has prompted outcries over the racial disparities in maternal health care.

The maternal mortality rate in the United States has been increasing since the 1990s and is now one of the highest in the developed world. According to the CDC, Black and Indigenous women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. A ProPublica study found that between 2006 and 2010, Black women in New York City were 12 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. About 60% of deaths related to pregnancy are preventable, reports The New York Times.

“There’s no reason America should have the statistics of a third-world country when it comes to Black and brown birthing bodies,” Tracie Collins, the CEO and founder of the National Black Doulas Association, said. “There’s just no reason for that.”

According to The City, Washington is at least the third woman of color in New York to die during or after childbirth this year. Amber Rose Isaac died in April during a C-section at Montefiore Medical Center, and Cordielle Street died in March a week after giving birth due to related complications.

Their deaths have led to a petition calling for the expansion of a state law regarding information for maternity patients.

The law, passed in 2016, requires hospitals and birthing centers to provide information about its childbirth procedures to prospective patients, including information regarding maternal depression, annual rates of cesarean sections, annual rates of vaginal births, birthing room availability and more. Information should be from the most recent year, the law states.

The petition is fighting to expand the mandatory reporting to include information about maternal deaths that happen before, during and up to six weeks after birth, third-trimester fetal losses, hemorrhages and injuries related to childbirth. Organizers are also calling for a racial breakdown for all information. The petition currently has over 6,000 signatures.

Chanel Porchia-Albert, a doula who attended the rally at Woodhull, said hospitals often doubt Black women’s concerns and neglect their health.

“I’ve seen people criminalized at bedside. I’ve seen other systems like child protective services and others used as a tool to get people to comply with medical procedures,” said Porchia-Albert. “Some of it centers around delayed care or no care or not believing a person when they express something.”

She said the whole medical institution needs an overhaul, citing racist systems that don’t teach nurses and midwives “what it means to care for different people.”

Health + Hospital Corporation, which runs Woodhull as well as other public hospitals, released a statement calling Washington’s death a “tremendous loss.”

“Our heartfelt condolences go to the family, friends and community who bear the unspeakable pain of their loved one taken from them too soon. While all maternal mortality is tragic, we are too well aware that pregnant women of color die at much higher rates, and we are particularly disheartened when such a death occurs on our watch, no matter the cause,” the statement read. “We are committed to addressing this unacceptable disparity and continue in our steadfast pursuit to expand access to care, eliminate race-based healthcare gaps and prevent such tragedies.”

According to Rolling Stone, Williams said the hospital would not release Khloe to Juwan and that staff members said he needed to take a paternity test to prove he was the baby’s father. Washington’s mother ended up signing Khloe out and giving her to Juwan.

“They sat there and they let him sit there and cry and telling him he can’t bring his daughter home,” Williams said. “I feel they didn’t care. And I feel [Sha-Asia] was mistreated.”

The family said that despite everything, Khloe is a happy and well-adjusted baby. Juwan still has the engagement ring and will save it for Khloe.

“He said he’ll save it for Khloe and explain to her what happened to her mom and why he wasn’t able to give it to her,” Williams said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help with Washington’s funeral expenses and support Khloe. If you'd like to sign the petition demanding greater transparency from New York hospitals surrounding maternity, click here.

Sha-Asia-Washington

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week