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At her 40th week of pregnancy, she displayed signs of preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the liver and kidneys. She developed life-threatening complications, forcing her to stay in the intensive care unit, where she went into kidney failure requiring dialysis and eventually a kidney transplant.

Thankfully both she and her son survived. Kylie said her husband was her “lifeline” fighting for her and making sure she got the best possible care.

According to the CDC, the most severe complications of pregnancy affect more than 50,000 women in the U.S. every year.

“There are tens of thousands of near misses that can also be deaths,” Dr. Jen Ashton, who as an OB/GY has delivered over 1500 babies, said in discussion with Barfield.

\"PHOTO:
Photostockphoto/Shutterstock
PHOTO: A pregnant woman of color holds her belly in an undated stock photo.
>

There has also been a long-standing increase in concerning rates of maternal mortality in past decades and the disproportionate risk and poor perinatal outcomes faced by women of color, particularly African American women.

“There are disparities in the birth of Black infants compared to white infants and that was really a passion for me. But as I continued in my career,\" Barfield said. \"I really realized that the health of the infants depend on the health of their mother in so many ways.”

After spending several years in the U.S. Army as a neonatologist, Barfield joined the CDC through its Epidemic Intelligence Service, which allowed her to focus on population issues, such as reproductive, maternal and infant health. “Despite all the technology and resources we have in the United States, we really haven’t been able to reduce maternal mortality and it has been a persistent problem,” Barfield said. \"Time and time again, we’re hearing about these stories of women who know that something just isn't right, yet they’re not being heard.”

Ashton said that there have been improvements over the years.

“When I was an intern, a baby born at 24 weeks gestation pregnancy had a 50% chance of survival and of those who did survive, 50% had severe long-term neurologic impairment,” she recalled. “Neonatology has busted that wide open and made incredible strides in taking care of the most premature, the most vulnerable newborns and neonates. We have kind of gone in the opposite direction in taking care of my side of the patient combo [OBGYN].”

With pregnancy related injuries and death still prevalent in the U.S. today, \"Hear Her\" is putting the awareness and communication of it back on the forefront. “It’s really important to get the message out, that women are able to have an opportunity for women to be heard,” concluded Barfield.

Alexis E. Carrington, M.D., is a dermatology research fellow at the University of California, Davis in Sacramento, California, and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.

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