A young woman from the Bronx has died during childbirth days after she posted on Twitter about the treatment she received at a local hospital.
In a report by the publication The City, 26-year-old Amber Isaac had shared her concerns with her partner Bruce McIntyre about surviving childbirth. She frequently researched for months about the mortality rate of black women who died during childbirth upon learning about her pregnancy. On April 21, Isaac shortly passed away after giving birth to her son, Elias, at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. McIntyre said he was not allowed in the room while doctors performed an emergency C-section on Isaac.
“As soon as they took the baby out, her heart stopped. And she bled out. Her platelet levels were so low that her blood was like water, so nothing was clotting.”
He said her platelet levels were dropping since February and Isaac tried to make appointments while she was seven months pregnant and didn’t have her first in-person appointment until April 17. She was admitted into Montefiore after a series of tests and sent out her last tweet about the hospital’s treatment.
Can’t wait to write a tell all about my experience during my last two trimesters dealing with incompetent doctors at Montefiore
— ✨ (@Radieux_Rose) April 17, 2020
McIntyre said doctors never conducted a blood test during the month of February. Before her death, Isaac learned she had HELLP syndrome, according to WebMD is a “rare but serious condition that can happen when you’re pregnant or right after you have your baby. HELLP stands for the different things that happen when you have it”.
McIntyre said their son is well and healthy but is still in the hospital. He also mentioned his last words to Isaac before her labor was induced on April 20:
“They wouldn’t let me hug or kiss her because I had masks and stuff on. So I told her I loved her and we were gonna get through this.”
A GoFundMe page has been created to help with baby Elias and for Amber’s funeral expenses. A hashtag #JusticeforAmber was created to help spread awareness.