Amber Rose Isaac, 26 years old, died last month while giving birth to her first baby boy, Elias. Days before her death, Isaac tweeted about dealing with incompetent doctors.
Bruce McIntyre III, Isaac's partner, said that he had noticed that Isaac's platelet level had been decreasing since February. However, she was unable to see a doctor in person because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic even though she was already in her third trimester. The solution was having her appointments over Zoom.
McIntyre said that when his partner, Isaac, who was black and Puerto Rican, first tried calling her doctors at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx to consult them about her low platelet level, they ignored her.
Family Thinks it's 'Preventable'
McIntyre finally said that what happened to his partner could have been 100 percent preventable. He also shared his sentiments with the discrimination between white and black and said that if Isaac was a white mother, she would have gotten more attentive care and would not have been neglected.
In late April, Isaac was admitted to the hospital where doctors confirmed that she had developed HELLP syndrome. It is a pregnancy-related complication that can be fatal if left untreated.
Just a few days earlier, she tweeted about how she could not wait to write a tell-all about her experience during her last two trimesters dealing with incompetent doctors at Montefiore.
Once Isaac was at the hospital, doctors induced her labor for more than a month ahead of her due date, and she was rushed into an emergency C-section.
Neither McIntyre nor Isaac's mother was allowed to join her in the hospital because of the restrictions following the precautions due to the pandemic.
Isaac then died alone after having given birth to her newborn son, Elias.
Maternal Mortality Issue
Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, Founder and President of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, expressed her dismay to what happened to Isaac. According to her, Isaac was a beautiful young woman who fell through the big, gaping hole of the healthcare system.
Dr. Joia also said that Isaac was not the only one and that it was the story of the black maternal mortality issue across the United States.
According to a study conducted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in New York City alone, black women are eight times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women.
The Montefiore Medical Center only said in a statement that any maternal death is a tragedy and that their hearts go out to Isaac's family.
McIntyre shared how he cannot bear to imagine what Isaac had gone through, and how hard it is now that she was gone. He also said that Isaac never even got to meet and see their child. McIntyre even remembered Isaac being so thrilled about having their child.
A GoFundMe page has been set up in Isaac's honor to cover the costs of her funeral service and to help McIntyre with raising his newborn son.
