On April 12, 2016, the day after his son Langston was born, Charles Johnson awoke in the maternity room of the hospital. He felt joy, but he also felt shock and grief. Hours after giving birth to their second child, his wife Kira, who had undergone a C-section, had passed away.
Sadly, he is one of numerous partners who has experienced a perinatal loss. In the U.S., at least 861 women passed away due to pregnancy-related conditions.
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In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predict. And compared to white women, black women have a nearly three-fold higher risk of dying during childbirth or from complications related to childbirth. The disparity is even greater in some communities.
Johnson, now 41, who has made it his mission to stop further maternal deaths, says that “every single one of these mothers’ lives is precious and valuable.”.
According to Johnson, he never anticipated being a part of the maternal health crisis. At the Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, his wife Kira Dixon Johnson passed away at the age of 39. Not only was she in good health, but Johnson describes her as being in exceptional health. She had a pilot’s license, started a hospitality consulting company, raced cars, completed marathons, and spoke four languages fluently. The couple had two children in mind when they got married in 2015.
Kira’s doctor scheduled a Cesarean for the birth of her second child as well because she had a difficult delivery with her first son Charles and ended up needing one. We were thrilled that it was another boy, a built-in best friend [for Charles], says Johnson, holding the second child. ]”.
But after the delivery, issues started to arise. The catheter had blood, Johnson noticed. He alerted the nurses and medical personnel, who allegedly never performed the CT scan or ordered blood work. A few hours later, an ultrasound revealed Kira’s abdomen was bloated with fluid. She shivered, lost color, and became sensitive to touch. At the activist rally March for Moms in Washington, D.C., he declared, “There were very clear signs that she was hemorrhaging internally.”. , in 2018.
He said, “Eight o’clock comes, I’m pleading, I’m begging… Still no scan.”. Kira received a blood transfusion at nine o’clock. I thought the CT scan was supposed to be done hours ago, so I ask and beg again, ‘Do something — where is the CT scan?’ ” he recalled. Staff allegedly informed him that Kira was not a top priority. Finally, they took Kira back to the OR, but it wasn’t until after midnight, he recalled.
In 15 minutes, the doctor promised to return.
The last time Johnson saw his wife alive was that, he added.
When Johnson got home, he was upset, in mourning, and having dreams where Kira was still alive. For his young Charles and his new son Langston, he transformed himself into a superparent.
I was overpowered, he admits.
I had a newborn, an 18-month-old who was terribly missing his mother, and two children. He continues, “I wouldn’t let anybody help. I moved to Atlanta to be close to my family and Kira’s family. Johnson asked the pediatrician to suggest a baby nurse to put the kids on a schedule at his mother’s urging.
The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, according to Johnson, was to explain to Charles why Mommy wasn’t coming home. With whatever they could comprehend, he made an effort to comfort them. At last he said, “I’m sorry, I miss Mommy too. Mommy needs to return as well, I think. But sadly, she is in heaven working on significant projects with God. “.
As early as age 3, Charles expressed a desire to enter heaven. According to Johnson, there is no manual to help you get ready for something like that. They were robbed in such a way, which is so unfair. “.
Johnson still views his late wife, who can be seen playing with baby Charles in a home video clip, cheering him on and saying, “I hope this is forever,” as a co-parent to the boys who are now 7 and 6 years old. I’m aware that this will go on forever. “.
On the walls of their house are large prints of Kira. Johnson always thinks about how Kira would have handled situations when making parenting choices, such as which schools to send the boys to and how to discipline the boys. As Kira loved, he exposes the boys to travel and foreign tongues. We turn the volume up to the highest when Beyoncé performs because that is Johnson’s mother’s favorite song.
Johnson acknowledges that on some days, parenting without Kira makes him feel “schizophrenic.”. “You’re attempting to be two people at once. You are attempting to be strict while also being nurturing. You have to provide that balance. “I want to make sure they don’t lack anything,” he says, breaking down in tears. “I simply give it my best effort. “.
Since his wife’s death, Johnson has gotten in touch with more than 100 men, grandparents, uncles, and other people who found themselves suddenly responsible for raising children after a woman passed away during childbirth.
Each tale is a little different.
When the mother or the family voiced their worries, they were dismissed, minimized, or denied care; by the time [health professionals] intervened, it was too late. numerous times. Sometimes internal bleeding, sometimes sepsis, and other times postpartum depression led to a suicide. “.
To put an end to preventable maternal mortality, he established the nonprofit 4Kira4Moms in 2017. In 2018, the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act was passed thanks to his testimony before Congress on the significance of state-level maternal mortality review committees. He appeared before Congress once more last year, this time in support of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021, which brought together a number of initiatives, such as improved training in maternity wards and required protocols and standards to “culturally codify respectful care.”. “.
That second journey to D.C in Washington. , which fell right before Mother’s Day. He tells Congress, “I was thinking about mothers who couldn’t spend Mother’s Day with their children because our country had failed them. The bill is still pending.
Johnson is concerned that nationwide abortion restrictions and bans will lead to an increase in maternal mortality. “We have the highest maternal mortality rate in the industrialized world; for a nation that is already failing women to this magnitude, to then force them into unplanned pregnancies is going to compound what is already a terrible situation, and it is going to more so affect people from Black and brown communities. “.
He says, “We need to think about what this means for her other children and her family, as well as what it means for the mother.”.
The hospital and doctors are currently being sued by Johnson for wrongful death and civil rights violations because he believes that his wife would still be alive if she were white. “My rage is still uncontrollable. Kira suffered such heinous injuries. There is no excuse for Kira and her boys not to be present at this time. She didn’t have any pre-existing conditions, was in good health, had access to care, and a family who would fight for her.
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“Kira shouldn’t have died from what happened.
Hemorrhage following delivery occurs.
However, it was the way they mishandled the situation—delaying, denying, and letting her bleed for hours—that caused her to pass away, according to him.
At the March for Moms, he declared that “women all across this country deserve better.”. “There is nothing I can do to get Kira back. However, I can fight as hard as I can whenever I can to ensure that we send mothers home with their children.
This is the highest form of respect and homage I can give to my wife.
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