27/06/2020
Let’s talk about Justice for Amber.
Amber Rose Isaac tweeted on 17 April about how she would write an exposé on “dealing with incompetent doctors” in the Bronx while pregnant with her first child.
Less than four days later, she was pronounced dead after a caesarean section went wrong.
Recently I spoke with Bruce McIntyre, partner of Amber Issac to discuss his and Amber’s experience with the health care and the tragedy that led up to Amber’s death. Bruce described a pregnancy riddled with neglect by rude and unprofessional staff at the Montefiore Medical Center, who he said ignored Isaac – a 26-year-old black, Puerto Rican New Yorker – even as she reached out to them during her final weeks.
Unfortunately, Amber is just one of many black mothers who have died either during, or after childbirth. Black women in the United States experience unacceptably poor maternal health outcomes, including disproportionately high rates of death related to pregnancy or childbirth. Both societal and health system factors contribute to high rates of poor health outcomes and maternal mortality for Black women, who are more likely to experience barriers to obtaining quality care and often face racial Black women are three to four times more likely to experience a pregnancy-related death than white women.discrimination throughout their lives.
Bruce has since become an activist working to improve the outcome for minority mothers. The SaveARose foundation was created to help save lives, and help other mothers avoid the same outcome as Amber.
To hear the full audio interview and to learn more about the SaveARose Foundation please visit https://www.newjerseydoulaassociation.com/news