A woman's death after stillbirth is a reminder of the U.S.'s maternal mortality issue

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Women in the U.S. are dying from pregnancy-related causes more often than other high-income nations. For Black and brown women, death rates are even higher. Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga of the Kansas News Service tells the story of one Kansas mother who died of maternal sepsis.

BEK SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA, BYLINE: Krystal Anderson was a pillar in her community. She was influential in her career in health technology. She did charity work, and she was a cheerleader for the champion Kansas City Chiefs for almost a decade.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KRYSTAL ANDERSON: Hey, Chiefs Kingdom. It's me, Krissy. I am so excited we have our first field rehearsal practice today.

SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Krystal used to live in a charming home in Leawood, Kan., with two black Lab mixes and her husband, Clayton. Krystal's presence is evident the second you walk through the front door.

CLAYTON ANDERSON: She literally touched every room with her signature or her style.

SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Dozens of photos of Krystal's beaming smile adorn the walls. Clayton says they chose a house next to the elementary school they wanted their future kids to attend. But now, Clayton and the dogs live alone. In March, Krystal died suddenly from cardiac arrest brought on by maternal sepsis after she gave birth to their stillborn daughter, Charlotte.

C ANDERSON: It's very quiet without her here now. You know, there's a difference between being alone and being lonely, as I'm finding out.

SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Clayton says he's had a lot of visitors, but he still feels lonely. Krystal was a Black woman, and a lot of the people dying look like her. National maternal death rates for people of color improved in 2022, but they still make up a disproportionate amount of deaths. In Kansas, the state's maternal mortality review committee says that between 2016 and 2020, more than 60% of pregnancy-related deaths were among racial and ethnic minorities.

JAMILA TAYLOR: All Black women, no matter the socioeconomic status, are experiencing these challenges in the health care system, again, which are proving to be deadly for us.

SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: That's Jamila K. Taylor, President and CEO of the Institute for Women's Policy Research. Taylor says maternal mortality rates are especially abysmal for women of color because of systemic racism in the health system. She says Black women are often ignored by doctors. Taylor says policy change, increased anti-racism training and more funding for community health workers are just a few solutions to the issue.

C ANDERSON: So yes, there's the picture of - I still have that. It's a ring holder.

SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Back in Leawood, Clayton Anderson flips through his wedding album.

C ANDERSON: You'll notice, with all of her wedding stuff, the girl loved sparkles.

SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Krystal was 40 when she died in a hospital a few days after delivering her stillborn baby. Clayton says this was her second stillbirth. Their son died in 2022. Krystal also suffered from sepsis then. Clayton says he wonders if things would have been different if Krystal's doctors were more attentive or if they'd had more appointments.

C ANDERSON: I shouldn't ask myself those questions, but I do at night, every night. And, you know, you have trouble sleeping 'cause of those questions.

SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Krystal's parents, Bertha and Burnette Johnson, also have questions about their daughter's death. But for now, they want her to be remembered for the incredible, loving person she was.

BERTHA JOHNSON: She would always give the clothes off her back to people, you know, and try to make people fit in.

SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: Bertha says she and Krystal used to talk on the phone daily, sometimes more than once. She can't wrap her head around Krystal's death.

JOHNSON: God needed an angel to take care of all those babies that she so wanted. She has tons of babies now.

SHACKELFORD-NWANGANGA: For NPR News, I'm Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga in Kansas City.

(SOUNDBITE OF SENSUAL CHILL SAXOPHONE BAND'S, "UNHAPPY DAY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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