On January 9, in Inglewood, California’s Centinela Hospital Medical Center, April Valentine entered the maternity unit and did not leave.
The next day, while in labor, she passed away. She passed away from a blood clot, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner determined.
However, in a wrongful death complaint submitted last month in Los Angeles County Superior Court, her family and her companion, Nigha Robertson, assert that hospital and staff negligence contributed to the healthy 31-year-old woman’s death.
After the complaint was filed on August 29, Robertson gave an interview and remarked, “I wouldn’t take my dog to that hospital.”
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors received a complaint from her family in February alleging “systemic and racist practices” at the hospital. Board members requested a state inspection after receiving a complaint, and the California Department of Public Health carried it out earlier this year.
Centinela Hospital Medical Center, in a statement to NBC News, refuted the claims made in the lawsuit and stated that it is “dedicated to delivering compassionate, quality care to all patients.”
Additionally, it refuted the claim of institutional racism and claimed that its medical staff “reflects the varied ethnic and racial makeup of the community.”
Nevertheless, the hospital stated in August that it would close its maternity wing on October 25 due to a decline in the demand for labor and delivery services.
Valentine works to prevent being a statistic.
In addition to her growing joy over her first pregnancy, Valentine was also acutely aware of the dangers of giving birth as a Black woman, according to Robertson.
According to the report for 2021 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, black women in the U.S. have a roughly three-fold higher risk of dying from a pregnancy-related reason than white women. According to the study, over 80% of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. could have been avoided. Implicit prejudice and variations in the quality of medical care can also contribute.
Given the numbers, Valentine sought the help of a birthing doula, a professional trained to offer psychological, physical, and educational assistance to expecting or new mothers. According to Robertson, Valentine also looked for a Black doctor and posted a giant whiteboard in her bedroom that was plastered in affirmations and aspirations that she recited every day.
When Valentine’s sister Kesiah Cordova went into labor, Robertson and Kesiah Cordova were present, and Robertson claimed he was taken aback by the surroundings.
He remarked, “It just felt like a prison.” It was chilly. The day was rainy, which caused the windows to shake. To stop the leaks, they had to place towels at the windows.
Valentine’s obstetrician, Dr. Gwen Allen, allegedly took hours to show up despite repeated requests to the nurses, according to Robertson’s lawsuit.
In an interview, Robertson commented on the nurses’ response, saying, “Well, we can’t call the doctor, the doctor will cuss us out.”
In the case, it was claimed that the nurses failed to summon the doctor, and Cordova claimed to have seen the interaction.
Ludlow B. Creary II, Allen’s lawyer, stated last month that “Dr. Allen did not cause Ms. Valentine’s death,” and that she was unable to make any additional comments due to federal privacy rules.
During labor, her legs begin to swell
Valentine was having contractions, but the nurses, according to Robertson, were uncaring and wouldn’t give her water. Despite prior promises from medical staff that Askew may be present when delivery started, the lawsuit claims that Valentine’s doula, Stanis Askew, was not permitted to be present throughout delivery.
Instead, Askew texted Valentine all the way through her delivery.
The lawsuit also alleges that an epidural was delivered incorrectly.
“It took [the medical staff] maybe 15 minutes to even put the epidural, and it stuck April like six different times,” Robertson recalled in an interview.
The swelling in Valentine’s legs started, according to Robertson. The lawsuit claims that shortly after, Valentine’s condition deteriorated. She began to throw up before she eventually passed out.
She just instantly “locked up” and “rolled her eyes to the back of her head,” according to Robertson. “I sprinted down the hall. And I said, “Help!” She doesn’t have breath. Please provide a hand. She doesn’t have breath. Please help.”
Robertson claimed to have started performing CPR on himself. According to the examination by the state health authorities, doctors seized control shortly after.
Valentine passed away.
Aniya Heavenly-April Robertson, her newborn girl, was born through emergency cesarean section alive but unconscious.
The state health department concluded that the hospital “failed to prevent the deficiencies” that resulted in or are likely to result in someone getting seriously wounded or dying after reviewing Valentine’s case.
Earlier this year, the organization fined the hospital $75,000, citing a maternal fatality without identifying the patient.
NBC News acquired state inspection records for Centinela hospital from 2019 through 2022 after submitting a public records request. The organization discovered that personnel failed to inform families of significant changes in patients’ situations, “rodent activity” from a damaged door that was later repaired, and a patient who passed away after receiving subpar medical attention.
According to the documents, the hospital created plans for corrective action that included counseling for staff, random cleaning checks, and the suspension and eventual firing of an employee.
With 18.6 mother deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2020, California has one of the lowest maternal death rates nationwide. However, from 2018 to 2020, Black women’s maternal death rate was more than three times greater than White women’s.
Family members seek to stop maternal deaths
Family and friends said they are committed to ensuring that Valentine’s story is not forgotten as Aniya approaches nine months old. In February, they gathered in front of the hospital to mourn her and express their outrage, and they also created an internet page called #Justice4April.
One of Valentine’s pals, Cheyenne Neshay, remarked that they were eager to experience motherhood together as well as you know, go on play dates. “Everything that was there was taken from us.”
Robertson stated that he wishes to prevent anyone else from experiencing what Valentine did.
You must consider how many Aprils were present before this and how many Aprils might be present going forward, he said. I’m going to fight for her and for every other Black woman who has ever had to go through something similar.