AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALTH SPECIAL
MATERNAL MORTALITY IN THE DISTRICT
DC Works to Address Centuries of Structural Racism
F
or Jo Palmer, her daughter’s birth was a miracle she never thought she’d live to see. She almost didn’t. Palmer suffers from mixed-connective tissue syndrome as well as an auto-immune disorder. She had been told she would never get pregnant, let alone give birth. So she chose a hospital familiar with that history, believing she could trust them with her life and that of her unborn child. “I didn’t want to be in a position where I was explaining my medical history if something went wrong,” she said. Palmer is a health policy analyst with a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of Maryland. She had done pre-pregnancy counseling, seen a reproductive endocrinologist and set up a pain management plan with her doctor. “I did everything right. I did what I was supposed to do and thought I could trust this place that at times, had saved my life.” That trust, she said, was shattered. After delivery by caesarean section, Palmer felt what she described as “excruciating pain” that made it impossible for her to even touch her newborn baby. Her complaints, she said, were not taken seriously, nor did anyone review her chart to note that her medical history has resulted in a high tolerance for pain medication. The medical team hesitated to implement the pain control plan Palmer and her doctor had put in place. The day after giving birth, Palmer noticed her lower abdomen was distended. When she pointed it out to the nurse, Palmer said, her concern was dismissed. In the middle of the night, Palmer reported shoulder pain. She knew this was a flag for preeclampsia. Physicians determined she was suffering from internal bleeding. Palmer was rushed into the operating room. Finding the medical team had not reviewed her medical history, she told her husband, Raman Santra (the blogger Barred in DC), that she loved him and gave him parting advice on how to raise their daughter, telling him he was born to be a girl dad. As a result of her training and profession, Palmer knew the risks. “I know that this is happening to people that look like me —that we’re being overlooked, we’re being neglected, we’re being brushed aside.” In the operating room, Palmer confronted the team and gave them her medical history. Before they gave her anesthesia, she said “I looked them in the eye and I said, You are not going to kill another Black mother today. I am going home with my baby. Please do not kill me.” Now the mother of a daughter who is nearly two years old, Palmer knows she is lucky. She also knows how many Black mothers delivering in the District are not. 16
EASTOFTHERIVERDCNEWS.COM
by Elizabeth O’Gorek
Jo Palmer and her daughter, now nearing her second birthday. Palmer, a health care policy analyst, found herself pleading for her life in the operating room after giving birth in 2020. Courtesy: J. Palmer
