177 | Kira - Shared by Charles Johnson

This is a story about loss - In memory of Kira Johnson Charles welcomed fatherhood with joy. He and Kira were so excited to start their family, and their second pregnancy would bring them back-to-back boys. The first pregnancy had been healthy, but ended in an emergency surgical birth as Baby Charles experienced heart decelerations that became concerning. Welcoming their second child during a transition from Atlanta to Los Angeles provided an opportunity for them to seek world-class care. Kira and Baby Langston were healthy throughout the pregnancy. Kira and Charles took intentional steps to select a provider that met their needs. They opted for a scheduled surgical birth with a provider who had excellent reviews and had privileges at Cedar Sinai Hospital. Their doctor assured them that this was the safest approach to delivery due to her history. A Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) was never presented as an option.  Their provider, Dr. Kasanji introduced them to Dr. Naim as a backup provider for the procedure. Spoiler alert - It was a racket. Dr. Kasanji could no longer stand for surgeries continued to accept patients, billed for prenatal care, and  then transferred their care to an incompetent, negligible, and callous butcher. We said what we said.  *The following timeline is not exact, but it’s not exaggerated.  2:00 pm - Surgical birth began. 2:02 pm Incision complete on a patient with a previous cesarean scar. Cue internal bleeding. Just before 4:00 pm - Signs of hemorrhaging. Charles rings the alarm. 5:00 pm - CT Scan ordered STAT 6:00 pm - No CT Scan. Charles rings the alarm. 6:15 pm - Declared Surgical Emergency 7:00 pm - No CT scan. Kira is shivering uncontrollably.  8:00 pm - No CT scan. Charles rings the alarm. The CT never happened. Charles rings the alarm! 9:00 pm - Your wife just isn’t a priority right now. 10:00 pm - No CT scan.  11:00 pm - No CT scan.  12:00 am - Baby, I’m scared.  12:00 am - “blind surgery” to find the bleed. It’s not a big deal. She’ll be back in 15 minutes. Incision. Crashed. Condition is critical, continuing to work on her.  Bring my wife back.  In a blink of an eye Kira was gone. There is nothing routine about not surviving a non-emergent surgical birth. The care, compassion, and skill that Kira deserved from her medical team never showed up.  There’s a biblical verse that people quote when faced with loss, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” It’s intended to provide encouragement for a person to move forward. But what if it was intended to give permission to grieve. “For a night,” gives the illusion of temporality. Night is symbolic of darkness and death. Could it be, “Weeping may endure for darkness or weeping may endure for a death. Grief has cycles, it does not end. But joy comes in the morning. Joy comes in the light. It’s the grief cycle of darkness and light - night and morning.  Charles Johnson shared his birth story that ended in the tragic, senseless, and avoidable death of his wife, Kira Dixon Johnson. Kira was a healthy 30-year-old woman in her second pregnancy when she trusted her vetted doctor and the reputation of an accomplished hospital system to ensure safe delivery of her child and her recovery. A rushed surgical birth that nicked her bladder caused internal bleeding; she lost her life after a series of pleas for support when she showed signs of hemorrhaging. Charles describes the formula that accompanies nearly every story of a Black woman losing her life in childbirth as, “We expressed our concerns, our concerns were dismissed or delayed, and by the time they did something, it was too late.”  The attending doctor, Dr. Naim, was later found negligent by the California Medical Board. Charles was inspired to keep fighting for better care and accountability. He founded 4Kira4Moms as a force multiplier in spreading the message of systemic change in medical care. This includes better care provider training, transparency, and accountability. The disproportionate impact of maternal mortality on Black women is at the center of his legislative advocacy, better doula and midwifery support, and increased awareness and education among fathers and non-birthing parents. Charles believes that revolutionary care  is that there has to be a fundamental standard of care in this country for all birthing people and doctors, midwives, whoever is performing these services, and who's getting paid for these services, their compensation needs to be tied to their ability to meet that standard period. Charles brought their baby home without Kira. He has faced fatherhood headfirst, allowing his sons to be his guiding force. They sustain him. They are the tools in his mental health toolbox, along with consistent therapy. He works for Kira's legacy and the future of change. She’d burn it all down. Charles has lit the match. Resources: 4 Kira 4 Moms | nonprofit on a mission to eradicate maternal mortality.