Last week, another study was published highlighting Georgia’s and the nation’s disturbing rates of maternal mortality. Deaths during pregnancy or childbirth, or in the weeks and months after, are often preventable.
For each new study, behind the numbers there are people, and individual stories. Below are some stories previously published in the AJC.
In each of these articles from the last five years, people told our reporters what they’d experienced, or what they’d seen: patients, doctors, doulas, family members. Some wanted to help others to understand what maternal danger looks like. Some saw it get addressed in time.
2023: Precious Andrews, mother of four
After she came home with her baby, Precious Andrews had changes in her vision, her balance, and worse. She fought to be taken seriously by doctors, and it may have saved her life. The story in the AJC: Maternal deaths in Ga. often preventable, point to broad problems
2023: An Olympic medalist, and an Atlanta mom
At age 32, Olympic gold medalist Tori Bowie was found dead in her home from complications of childbirth. Joquita HIll kept thinking, “this could have been me, this could have been me.” The story in the AJC: ‘This could have been me:’ Olympian’s death spotlights Black maternal health
2023: Doulas, and a hospital chief
In downtown Atlanta, Grady Memorial Hospital Chief Medical Officer Robert Jansen has to manage the wave of additional childbirth patients after Atlanta Medical Center closed down and patients turned to Grady. Outside the hospital, doulas, who help women through childbirth, navigate the loss of AMC’s thriving childbirth center. The story in the AJC: Maternity, newborn care in Atlanta challenged by abrupt closure of AMC
2020: A clinic in Jesup
Dr. Jeffrey Harris is an ob/gyn in Jesup, where more than one-third of residents live in poverty. The hours: long and unpredictable. The finances: tight. The mission: “God’s work.” Read in the AJC: Rural clinic scrambles to provide care amid maternal death crisis
2019: A CDC epidemiologist
Shalon Irving was a health-conscious CDC epidemiologist with advanced degrees and a warm heart, and she died three weeks after giving birth. Black women die far more often than White women of pregnancy-related causes, and that disparity cuts across class and education. The story in the AJC: DIGGING DEEPER: Fighting the lopsided likelihood of black women dying in childbirth
2018: A rural doctor, and an urban mom
Dr. Karen Kinsell sees patients in rural Clay County, where she is the only doctor and is not an ob/gyn. In contrast, Christina Simmons in Atlanta shows what can go right when a patient has the care she needs. The story in the AJC: Georgia maternal death rate, once ranked worst in U.S., worse now