A UNIQUE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY
On Friday I had the honor of working with Mae Health and their Clinical Director Dr. Michelle Owens to do a special interview in preparation for Father’s Day. If you didn’t get a chance to join us on Zoom live, I’ll share the recording here once it’s available. It was a thought-provoking, emotional, passionate conversation that could’ve gone on for hours more. We have so much work cut out for us in the fight against maternal mortality. It’s an honor to associate myself with individuals and organizations such as these as we try so hard to bring change.
If you don’t know the story of Charles Johnson, his wife Kira, and their two little boys, take some time to familiarize yourself with it. Get some tissues, maybe even a punching bag, because the details of what Charles and his family have endured since the spring of 2016 are devastating, to say the least. Put simply and bluntly, Kira Johnson tragically lost her life after a routine c-section at Cedars Sinai. Kira was allowed to bleed internally for more than 10 hours before the medical staff at Cedars Sinai took action. Her husband asked for help, patiently waited, asked for help again, continued patiently waiting while trying to comfort his wife, and eventually sought the help of anyone who would listen to get his wife the urgent medical care that she needed. He shouldn’t have had to ask once, let alone multiple times. He should not be a widower parenting two young boys alone. His wife, the mother of his children, should be alive today.
What did Charles do in the face of his darkest moments? He started 4Kira4Moms, he very recently got the Kira Johnson Act passed, which establishes grants to improve maternal health outcomes for racial and ethnic minority groups and other underserved populations! Click here to read more about it. When asked what he wished could’ve been different about his experience and Kira’s untimely death, he went on for several minutes and sang the praises of doulas. He wishes he and Kira had hired a doula to have another set of eyes and ears in the room, an advocate for them, someone else to help fight for what Kira needed in the moment. I was beyond touched that that was Charles’ response.