NYC Medical Records Show Misstep Leading To 30-Year-Old Mother’s Death After Childbirth, Family Suing For $41M

Christine Fields, who recently received her college degree in criminal justice, leaves behind her 3-month-old son, a 3 year old and a 5 year old.

The New York City Health Department has released a document uncovering the highly sought-after details leading to last year’s death of a 30-year-old mother, The New York Times reported.

Christine Fields was a mother of three. She died last November at Woodhull Medical Center in the Bedford–Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, shortly after going into labor. When doctors performed a last-minute cesarean section on Fields due to the baby’s dropping heart rate, everything seemed fine, and the baby was born hours later. Then, events turned tragic when Fields died. The incident was shrouded in mystery as the hospital did not offer any medical records to provide a reason for Fields’ death. Seeking answers, the Bed-Study community rallied in Fields’ name.

This cannot continue. #JusticeforChristineFields #StandForChristine pic.twitter.com/fl1PGEeiDx
— Irth (@IrthApp) November 17, 2023

According to The Times, the medical examiner’s office revealed that Fields bled to death and ruled the manner of death as a complication. A new document, provided to the news outlet, reported a miscommunication between members of the surgical team who conducted the C-section. The surgeons did not accurately note the complications that had arisen during surgery. The report pointed out complications such as a “uterine arterial injury,” which “resulted in maternal death.”

Fields’ fiancé, Jose Perez, told The Times that the doctors rushed Fields into a recovery room after he noticed she was unwell. Doctors performed CPR, but it was too late to address the complications.

Consequently, Fields’ family has filed a $41 million lawsuit against Woodhull Hospital and the New York City Health and Hospital system, ABC 7 New York reported. The complaint accused Woodhull and the health department of being “careless and negligent in the medical care and treatment rendered” to Fields and her baby son.

“I’m angry, I’m hurt, I’m upset,” Fields’ mother Denene Witherspoon told ABC 7. Witherspoon remained adamant about her daughter’s choice about not wanting to have a surgery. Fields had planned to have a natural birth.

Fields, who recently received her college degree in criminal justice, leaves behind her 3-month-old son, Anuel Perez, a 3-year-old, and a 5-year-old. Her untimely passing immediately after giving birth in November highlights persistent inequities in maternal mortality.