Not too many people talk about the horrors and trauma that can come with giving birth. While it's a practice that's been happening since the beginning of human life, maternal deaths still happen more often than they should. Shockingly, the rate is very high in the United States. People need to start questioning why so many things keep going wrong.
Michelle Reaves, who was only 36, suffered from labor complications that led to her death. While the baby survived, this story is interesting for a very complex reason. Michelle was a surrogate mom, meaning that she was carrying the baby for another couple. This is the second time Michelle worked with them. She had also labored two of her own children, meaning that she's had more than one successful pregnancy before.
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The San Diego mom was in the hospital giving birth on January 15, 2020. Today reportsthat while Michelle was giving birth to the baby girl, she began to hemorrhage. Her condition only worsened from there.
Her friends and family are devastated over her death. Michelle was the mom of two — Gage and Monroe. She also had a loving husband, Chris. The couple's friend Jaime Herwehe put together a GoFundMe campaign for Chris' benefit, as he'll need some financial help to get past this and start life as a single father.
"One complication led to the next and she fought for her life," Jaime wrote. "Although the baby made it out safe, Michelle did not. I can’t even begin to imagine what her husband Chris and her two babies are going through so I want to start this page to help raise money for help with the kids, for Chris as they all adjust, funeral services, or anything at all to make it as easy as we can on them."
Jaime noted that it's heartbreaking that Michelle's children won't get to grow up with their mom by their side. Jaime also noted that these are the strange stories that you'd never expect would happen to someone you know. "You hear about these things happening all of the time but never in your life imagine it will happen to you," Jaime wrote.
Currently, the GoFundMe campaign has raised over $74,000. The ultimate goal is $100,000, but every bit counts. The situation must also be devastating for the family that Michelle was helping out. While they were able to welcome their new baby into the family, they also lost a dear friend at the same time.
It's important for that family to remember that while they'll want to grieve the loss, they shouldn't feel responsible for it. Nobody could have predicted that this would happen. When you're pregnant, you have to undergo plenty of tests to make sure your pregnancy is as healthy as possible. That said, you can't prevent everything.
According to the World Health Organization, 810 women per day died while pregnant or in labor in 2017. That's an insanely high number that'll make you wonder what's happening in the world. Especially since between 2000 and 2017, the maternal death rate dropped worldwide before rising once again.
Some of the deaths around the world are based on lack of access to quality health care. Since most places in America consider themselves to be well-staffed and resourced, that doesn't explain why the death count is so high in this country. For the United States alone, the American Action Forum states that there were 7.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1987. In 2016, that rose to 16.7 deaths per 100,000 live births.
"The United States is increasingly one of the most unsafe countries for women giving birth," the AAF states. It also says that conditions like hypertension, chronic heart disease, and diabetes can often make labor more difficult. Women should always go to every doctor appointment and let their care providers know about any conditions beforehand, just to be as safe as possible.
Back in 2018, USA Today wrote an investigative report on the issue. It stated that a lot of people blame moms for the death rate, which is completely unfair. "At least 30 states have avoided scrutinizing medical care provided to mothers who died, or they haven't been studying deaths at all," the report says. "Instead, many state committees emphasized lifestyle choices and societal ills in their reports on maternal deaths."
While every expectant mother knows to avoid smoking and keep a healthy diet, those aren't necessarily the components that would lead to death during delivery. Plus, a woman like Michelle, who had been there before and delivered three healthy children already, likely knew what to avoid. It seems more like policymakers are trying to shift the blame.
USA Today also found out that Louisiana is the deadliest state for pregnant women and new moms. In the state's report on maternal deaths, it didn't seem to blame the hospital or health care system at all. Instead, it mentioned issues like suicide and domestic violence.
Reporters chatted with Cindy Pearson, executive director of the National Women’s Health Network. Cindy was quick to admit that some of these reports were bogus. "Don’t tell me what was wrong with the women," she said. "Don’t give me a list of whether they smoked or how much they weighed. Someone was taking care of the women. What did those people do?"
Krystle Jackson of St. Peters, Missouri, had a birth complication that was almost ignored — and it could have led to her death. After her C-section in 2017, she had a damaged artery in her cervix that caused her to bleed uncontrollably. She kept going to the ER, but doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. When she was finally diagnosed, the issue was so bad that she needed a hysterectomy, destroying any hopes for a second biological child.
Stories like these happen all the time. It's about time for doctors to put more focus on pregnant women, since the problems and the statistics will only get worse if they don't. Women, especially kindhearted souls like Michelle, don't deserve this type of outcome.
