Dying to be pregnant: Local woman’s miracle story highlights deadly dangers of Black maternal health crisis

JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Black women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. Doctors and even lawmakers are ringing the alarm on what’s being called a Black maternal health crisis. News4JAX is digging deeper into the whys and what’s being done to address what doctors and policymakers say is not a simple fix. Miracle mom Twilla Washington walked through the Mayo Clinic for the first time in 13 years and recalled how doctors would just stop by her room, in awe of her recovery. It all started two days before she gave birth. “I just got this headache. So I ran to Publix and took my pressure. It was like 165 or something. It was something ridiculous I’d never had before,” Twilla said. Twilla said high blood was never a concern in her life or during pregnancy and she was having a great pregnancy up until that moment. She and her husband, Johnny, went to the hospital. “They checked my vitals and said the baby was fine. Got my blood pressure down — just suggested that I go to my doctor’s visits,” Twilla said. They thought everything was fine until two days later...