Maternal Harm for USA TODAY
Littleton, Colorado.
Reading Time: 0 min 57 sec
The United States maternal death rate is among the highest in the developed world. Eighteen states haven't studied these deaths and others tend to blame moms. This assignment, to photograph and interview Nathan Butler, played a role in a larger project, Deadly Deliveries, launched by USA TODAY to investigate why thousands of moms are needlessly injured, and some die, giving birth every year in the U.S.
Nathan Butler lost his wife, Jessica, when she died while pregnant with their daughter, who also died. She is one of the thousands of mothers torn from their families in a nation with the highest rate of maternal death in the developed world. According to federal data analyzed by USA TODAY, 4,778 women across the United States – including 69 in Kentucky -- died from a pregnancy-related cause from 2010-2015 while pregnant or within a year of delivering a baby.
Butler blames the doctor and hospital for his wife’s death: If only they’d admitted her when she first got sick, he said, she might have lived. A jury sided with him in a lawsuit against the doctor.
“The infection spread to Jessica’s blood, and her heart stopped during surgery. The baby girl inside her died. Jessica lingered on life support for three days before Nate let her go.
The young father had to tell his toddler son Max, “Mommy’s not coming back home.”
Then he walked out of the hospital a single dad.”
Nathan Butler lost his wife, Jessica, when she died while pregnant with their daughter, who also died. Butler now focuses on spending as much time as possible with his son Max, 9.
Butler hangs out and jokes with son, Max, 9, near their Littleton, Colorado home. The pair have traveled overseas together and spend as much quality time as possible through sports, Boy Scouts or exploring the park near their home.
