Australian influencer dies from rare childbirth complications
Food influencer Stacey Hatfield passed away shortly after giving birth to her son Axl. The Australian influencer suffered complications from childbirth.
Births often don’t go as planned, but a Florida woman faced something completely unexpected during her labor. It was a virtual court hearing.
In September 2024, Cherise Doyley, a professional birth doula and expectant mother of three, arrived at the University of Florida Health Hospital in active labor, People and ProPublica reported.
According to reports, Doyley’s plan was to attempt a vaginal birth, but staff feared the risk of her uterus rupturing and suggested she give birth by caesarean section. USA TODAY has reached out to the hospital for comment.
Uterine rupture is a rare but “serious complication in which the uterus is torn or torn,” the Cleveland Clinic explains, adding that it is most common in people who have previously had a C-section and then attempted a vaginal birth.
“Uterine rupture occurs in approximately 1 in 300 births in people who have had one C-section. Uterine rupture is more common in people who have had two or more C-sections, with up to nine in 300 births occurring,” the clinic notes.
ProPublica said Doyley, who had previously had a complicated C-section, knew the risk of rupture was less than 2% and told doctors she would not agree to a C-section without first attempting a vaginal birth.
The nurses then opened their tablets and arrived for a virtual court hearing with the judge and other officials.
In a transcript of the hearing obtained by ProPublica, Doyley called it “the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
She also asked if there was an African-American doctor who could take her place, to which the judge replied, “I don’t think race really matters.”
“That has a lot to do with that, because historically Black people receive better care when they have health care providers who look like them,” she responded. “So even if you don’t think so, statistically speaking, you’re more likely to receive better care from a BIPOC person.”
Maternal mortality rates for black women are 3.5 times higher than for white women, and experts say unconscious bias among health care providers is a contributing factor.
Research shows that the vestiges of a long history of racial bias in medicine persist into modern times. For example, a 2016 study found that nearly half of first- and second-year medical students believed that black patients are more pain tolerant, have thicker skin, and are less sensitive to pain than white patients.
Hours later, a judge ruled against ordering an immediate caesarean section, but that the hospital could perform the procedure without her consent in an emergency.
ProPublica reported that doctors said the baby’s heart rate had slowed overnight and rushed her into surgery, delivering her daughter by C-section before being transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit.
“When we use the courts to basically bully someone into having unnecessary medical procedures against their will, it’s akin to torture in my eyes,” Doyley told ProPublica.
