For months, Juwan Lopez and his girlfriend Sha-asia Washington had been eagerly awaiting the birth of their first child, a baby girl. When they entered a Brooklyn, New York, hospital on July 2 with concerns about Washington's high blood pressure, they likely thought doctors would calm their fears. But just days later, Juwan would leave the hospital alone as a newly single father, rocked by his girlfriend's sudden death during childbirth. Now, he and Washington's family are begging for answers as to why she became yet another statistic in a silent crisis facing Black American mothers.
The details surrounding Washington's death are still murky, due to conflicting reports.
A GoFundMe page set up for the family claims that the 26-year-old mother died at Woodhull Hospital after an epidural was improperly administered. Other reports are more general, saying she died during a routine C-section or because of hospital negligence.
What is known is that Washington entered the hospital July 2 with high blood pressure and died on July 4 while giving birth. Her newborn daughter, however, survived — and was given the name Khloe Sha-asia Anne Lopez.
Lopez and the entire Washington family have been left stunned and heartbroken by Sha-asia's death.
Sha-asia "was a beautiful soul," the GoFundMe description read, adding that she was looking forward to a bright future. "She just started her family. Just got her own apartment to be on her own."
“[S]he wanted to be a mom and she was gonna be an amazing one," it continued. "She left behind so many hurt people with this sudden tragic lost. No one was expecting this.”
Washington's story is sadly nothing new. Not in America, and certainly not in New York City.
The US maternal mortality rate has been steadily rising for years — something that is simply not happening in other developed nations.
But when it comes to Black mothers, the issue is particularly dire. According to recent data, Black mothers are three times more likely to die during childbirth in the US than their white counterparts, and experts remain somewhat puzzled as to why.
It's especially concerning in New York City, where earlier this year a study compared the birth outcomes of Black, Latina, and white moms who all delivered within the same hospital. According to HuffPost, "women of color had a significantly higher risk of developing life-threatening birth complications than white women — even in the same maternity wards."
There have been plenty of theories as to why this keeps happening, though none have been firmly proven.
Many have assumed Black women are subjected to subpar medical care because of their health care providers and income levels. But during the New York City study, researchers accounted for this disparity — and they still fared worse than their white peers within the very same hospital.
Others think that systemic racism is to blame.
"We see that the causes of this huge disparity is due to institutionalized racism and discrimination that affect all women of color but especially Black women," Yael Offer, a nurse and midwife for St. Barnabas Hospital in New York City, told New York's News 12 back in 2018.
In a lot of cases, Black women have said they've felt their concerns were ignored or brushed aside by doctors.
In fact, Serena Williams made similar claims in 2018 when she said she almost bled to death following her C-section.
"Over and over, Black women told of medical providers who equated being African-American with being poor, uneducated, noncompliant and unworthy," NPR reported, in a feature centering on the medical experiences of Black mothers. Many of the women interviewed said that their pain or feelings of concern were not taken seriously by doctors, which delayed treatment.
Still, researchers are actively working to get to the bottom of why — an answer that doesn't seem easy to come by.
In the days since her death, Washington's story has been slowly making headlines and was even shared on Instagram by comedian Amy Schumer.
In doing so, Schumer took the opportunity to highlight the countless Black mothers who came before Washington — and the countless other who will come after her, if nothing is done.
"Women of color are 12 times more likely to die unnecessarily during child birth in New York City. 4 percent everywhere else," Schumer pointed out Wednesday in her post. "Did you know that? This woman died in Brooklyn at Woodhull Hospital a few days ago and never met her little girl. #shaasiawashington scream her name."
Hundreds of comments soon flooded in.
"Thank you for sharing," wrote one person. "Horrific."
"This brought me to tears and breaks my heart," added another. "This is not okay."
Washington's story isn't the first of its kind to make headlines.
In fact, Charles Johnson, a father and husband from California, began telling his wife Kira's story to anyone and everyone who would listen after she died suddenly in 2016. She was also undergoing a routine C-section when she lost her life at just 39 years old.
As Charles recently told CNN, he could tell something wasn't right during the procedure.
"I can see the Foley catheter coming from Kira's bedside begin to turn pink with blood," Charles recalled. "I just held her by her hands and said, 'Please, look, my wife isn't doing well.' This woman looked me directly in my eyes and said, 'Sir, your wife just isn't a priority right now.'"
For 10 hours, Charles says doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center ignored his concerns over his wife's well-being, and by the time she was finally taken back in for surgery, it was already too late. She had suffered extensive internal bleeding and her heart stopped soon afterward.
In the years since, he has formed the nonprofit group 4Kira4Moms, which advocates for improved maternal health care, has pushed for changes in Washington, DC, and regularly shares stories like ShaAsia Washington's to raise awareness of the issue.
For now, many are following Schumer's call to "scream" Washington's name from the rooftops.
On Thursday, protesters gathered outside Woodhull Hospital, where they held signs bearing her name.
On social media, conversation surrounding her death continues, with some saying it is way past time the country opened its eyes to a growing epidemic.
"She deserved better," tweeted one person. "She deserved a long lived life with her child (and future children) and partner. This is yet another way the system fails women, especially women of color."
