1
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It was chaos as I got off the elevator.

2
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I was coming back on duty
as a resident physician

3
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to cover the labor and delivery unit,

4
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and all I could see was a swarm
of doctors and nurses

5
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
hovering over a patient in the labor room.

6
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They were all desperately trying
to save a woman's life.

7
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The patient was in shock.

8
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
She had delivered a healthy baby boy
a few hours before I arrived.

9
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Suddenly, she collapsed,
became unresponsive,

10
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and had profuse uterine bleeding.

11
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
By the time I got to the room,

12
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there were multiple doctors and nurses
and the patient was lifeless.

13
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The resuscitation team
tried to bring her back to life,

14
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but despite everyone's
best efforts, she died.

15
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What I remember most about that day
was the father's piercing cry.

16
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It went through my heart
and the heart of everyone on that floor.

17
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This was supposed to be
the happiest day of his life,

18
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but instead it turned out
to be the worst day.

19
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I wish I could say this tragedy
was an isolated incident,

20
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but sadly that's not the case.

21
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Every year in the United States,
somewhere between 700 and 900 women

22
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
die from a pregnancy-related cause.

23
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The shocking part of this story

24
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is that our maternal mortality rate

25
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is actually higher than all other
high-income countries,

26
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and our rates are far worse
for women of color.

27
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Our rate of maternal mortality
actually increased over the last decade,

28
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
while other countries reduced their rates.

29
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the biggest paradox of all?

30
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We spend more on health care
than any other country in the world.

31
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Well, around the same time in residency
that this new mother lost her life,

32
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I became a mother myself,

33
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and even with all of my background
and training in the field,

34
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I was taken aback by how little attention

35
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
was paid to delivering
high-quality maternal health care,

36
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and I thought about what that meant,
not just for myself,

37
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but for so many other women.

38
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Maybe it's because my dad
was a civil rights attorney

39
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and my parents were socially conscious

40
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and demanded that we stand up
for what we believe in,

41
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or the fact that my parents
were born in Jamaica,

42
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
came to the United States,

43
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and were able to realize
the American Dream.

44
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Or maybe it was my residency training,

45
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where I saw firsthand

46
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
how poorly so many
low-income women of color

47
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
were treated by our healthcare system.

48
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
For whatever the reason,
I felt a responsibility to stand up,

49
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not just for myself,

50
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but for all women,

51
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and especially those marginalized
by our healthcare system.

52
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I decided to focus my career
on improving maternal health care.