Another woman of color dies during childbirth at Woodhull Hospital

Friday, October 4, 2024
BROOKLYN (WABC) -- Another woman has died during childbirth at Woodhull Hospital in Bed-Stuy - the third woman of color to die while in labor at the hospital since 2020.

Bevorlin Garcia Barrios, 24, died at the hospital September 15 after undergoing an emergency C-section, according to her boyfriend, Nelson Ramirez.

Ramirez said Barrios went to the hospital because she wasn't feeling well.

He said doctors took her in to perform the C-section and then came out a short time later and told him Barrios had died.

Ramirez said he still doesn't know what happened to her.



"I done crying at this point," he said. "I done crying. I want something to be solved."

Last November, Christine Fields, 30, died after undergoing a C-section at Woodhull Hospital.

The New York City Medical Examiner said she died of internal hemorrhaging.

Her family is taking legal action against the hospital alleging https://abc7ny.com/woodhull-hospital-c-section-pregnant-woman-dies-lawsuit/14330983/ Fields suffered cuts to her blood vessels which caused internal bleeding. In 2020, Sha-Asia Washington, 26, died https://abc7ny.com/mother-dies-during-childbirth-black-births-matter-c-section-sha-asia-washington/6309574/ after having a C-section at Woodhull. The babies of all three women survived.

Fields' boyfriend - the father of her child - stood with Perez outside Woodhull Hospital on Friday, both demanding changes at the hospital.



"Something needs to be done," Jose Perez said. "We can't keeping having this."

New York City Health and Hospitals, which operates Woodhull Hospital, said they would not comment on Barrios' case because of patient privacy laws.

They have also not spoken publicly on the cases of the two other women.

The hospital system told Eyewitness News that it has hired new leadership of the OBGYN and anesthesia departments at Woodhull and implemented new training for staff who handle pregnant patients.

"Over the last years, we have been particularly focused on helping reduce the unacceptable maternal mortality rates among women of color through innovative interventions," they said in a statement to Eyewitness News.



The New York State Department of Health wouldn't comment on Barrios' death saying they don't comment on matters that are or may be the subject of ongoing review or investigation.

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