Claycord
has reported some very sad news: that a 36-year-old Clayton
Valley High graduate died earlier this week, 10 days after experiencing
life-threatening complications while giving birth to a baby daughter.
Maya Johnson had been on life support at Contra Costa County Hospital in
Martinez since April 3. Her daughter Elisha was last reported to be in
Children's Hospital in Oakland, where she was being treated for an infection.
Not
long ago, I would have read this news and been shocked: women don't die in
childbirth anymore do they? This is the United States and the 21st century--not
the 1800s or the early part of the 20th century.
It
used to be that women had every reason to fear that childbirth could be
dangerous. In 1900, maternal mortality was about 65 times higher than it is
today. Then came the advent such modern medical strategies as the use of
antiobiotics and blood transfusions in the mid-1930s. Those dramatically
reduced the number of women being injured or dying in childbirth.
Unfortunately,
the United States still lags in maternal safety. In 2008, there were 17
maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the United States, lower than many
developing nations in Africa and Central Asia, but higher than many
industrialized countries around the work. In 2011, the United Nations
placed the United States 50th in the world for maternal mortality rates, with
the leading causes of U.S. maternal deaths being hemorrhage, pregnancy-related
hypertensive disorders, infection, thrombotic pulmonary embolism,
cardiomyopathy and cardiovascular conditions.
"We
could be doing a lot better, considering the resources we have." So says
Audrey Lyndon, an associate professor at UCSF's School of Nursing. She is
nationally recognized for her work demonstrating how communication failures
contribute to preventable adverse events in perinatal care. She also works on
developing strategies to improve safety on labor and delivery units.
I
interviewed her earlier this year for the School of Nursing's online magazine.
Working on the article helped me realize that, yes, sadly, women do still die
in childbirth in the United States.
As
I reported, most women go to hospitals expecting to safely deliver a healthy
baby, because, after all, birth is one of the most natural things in the world.
As Lyndon told me, birth "usually works best if we let it evolve and not
get in the way." Unfortunately, once in a while the unpredictable happens
-- the mother's blood pressure spikes, infection sets in, or the baby goes into
distress -- and missed opportunities can lead to devastating consequences.
A national study showed that communication issues topped the list of
root causes of cases of perinatal deaths, occurring in 72 percent of all cases.
Lyndon found complex reasons for why communication breaks down on labor and
delivery units, including hierarchical roles, lack of administrative support,
resource issues, fatique and stress among team members and personality differences.
It
hasn't been publicized why Maya Johnson needed the emergency c-section. In
addition to her new baby Elisha, she leaves behind a husband and two other
children. A celebration of Maya Johnson's life is
scheduled to take place 11 a.m. Monday at the New Hope International Church,
2120 Olivera Court, Concord.
David
Johnson's co-workers at West Coast Fixtures/R3 Builders in Benicia have created
a website to raise funds to help the family financially during this
time.
