helped put this issue in the spotlight and is fighting for change across the country. Things in the Thierry household are like those in many other American homes. Shawn Thierry, a single mother is getting her daughter Claire ready for school and has a jam-packed day herself. Thierry tries not to take any of their time together for granted, remembering sage words from her grandmother. She would always say, I remember when I was a little girl, well, when a woman has a baby, that's the closest she's ever going to get to death. That was true, back in the, as they say, the old days, women died in childbirth. And so I find it just boggling that in 2019, we're still having this conversation. I'm going to go get your clothes, Claire. Texas is one of the most concerning maternal mortality rates in the country, estimated at 14.6 per 100,000 live births. For black women, it's even worse, 27.8 per 100,000. Shawn Thierry almost became one of the state's statistics herself while giving birth in 2012
to Claire. I started to tell the doctors in the room something's not right. I asked them to put me under to give me full anesthesia, thinking that if somehow I wasn't conscious and awake of the level of pain that I was in, that maybe I could survive. And they said, well, the doctor's not even in the room, he has to make that order. And I just scream, go get him. Thierry doesn't remember much else other than waking up and finding out she had given birth. She says her doctor never explained what had happened. Later, I found out a couple of nurses came in and they said that I had what's called a high block epidural. And that can be an adverse reaction when I believe it's put too high in your spine. And the medicine goes through a heart instead of down to your leg. So it was paralyzing my heart. She believes her nurses and doctors didn't take her pain level seriously. She says a University of Virginia report may hold the key as to why. They surveyed medical students who actually believed that African Americans have thicker
skin. They revealed that they thought that African Americans had a higher pain threshold. And so findings are coming out that blacks are less likely to receive pain medication in the ER. As a black woman in Texas, Thierry knows all too well how big the problem is. She's a Texas house representative. Her district includes three of the zip codes with the highest maternal mortality rates. Driven by her personal ordeal, she's pushing the state to study maternal mortality. An issue that Dr. Carla Ortique says has become a crisis. At least 50 to 80% of these deaths are preventable. Ortique is vice chair of the Texas maternal mortality and morbidity task force, which was established in 2013 to study the state's maternal mortality rate. We know that for every maternal death, there are approximately 100 severe maternal morbidities. In other words, bad things that happen, near misses, near death instances.
And so it's really important that we recognize that the mortality is just that it's the tip of the iceberg. Ortique says 55% of women who give birth in Texas are covered by Medicaid, most lose that coverage 42 days after delivery. And so it's likely not a coincidence that you see a higher incidence of death after that 42 day mark. Texas has the largest uninsured rate in the country. In part because in 2012, the state legislature rejected billions of dollars in federal aid to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Ortique says that decision coupled with poverty, obesity and increases in opiate abuse has served only to further marginalize those in need. She was always experimenting with hair. Cheryl Perkins' daughter Cassandra had insurance when she gave birth to twins Camille and
Catrile now four years old. She already had an older daughter journey who is now six. But even with insurance, doctors missed early signs of trouble. She had went to the ER 22 times with no resolution, which that never should have happened. Because it would seem like the doctors would say, why is this person coming back here? We're not doing something. Cassandra was eventually diagnosed with an infection. Her labor was induced just six months into her pregnancy. Her twins weighed only two pounds each. She died a week and a half later after her liver failed. Her mother is now raising three young children alone. Catrile, meanwhile, has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and needs 24-7 assistance.
That's life. It is so hard. Three years after Cassandra's death, Dr. Ortique's Task Force, found that the rate of racial disparity had not changed. Mortality among black women was more than double that of white women. But though the state has since developed a better method that focuses on tracking numbers, white still does not include women who die outside the 42-day Medicaid cutoff. Now this room here, this is our obstetric room. Shawn Thierry has also proposed a maternal mortality in morbidity data registry bill, which would require collecting health data at the time a pregnant woman is admitted for delivery through 364 days postpartum. Under the bill, data would be collected on a daily basis and would include the most high-risk conditions such as hemorrhaging and pregnancy-induced hypertension.
One of the reasons Thierry wants to introduce the data registry is so broad as statistics can reinforce the severity of maternal deaths and set a new standard for states across the US.
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