04 November 2023 , 15:40
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A brave dad is raising his child alone after his partner gave birth to a baby she never met.
Jasmine Patton finally managed to become pregnant after struggling to conceive. Eventually, after multiple rounds of in vitro fertilization(IVF), the Chatanooga woman discovered she was expecting a child.
During her pregnancy, her husband Edgar Patton said his wife became concerned with the abnormally high rates of maternal mortality, known to disproportionately affect black women giving birth.
"She was worried about being a good mom and she was worried about giving birth," Edgar told Good Morning America.
He added: "She would watch TikTok videos of some woman having complications, and she was worried about having those complications [herself]."
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Edgar said Jasmine became worried during her pregnancy (GMA)Research published the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows the number of maternal fatalities in the US has increased in the last 20 years. The National Institute of Health said "American Indian, Alaska Native, and Black individuals were among groups disproportionately affected."
Edgar said his wife would "begin to cry because she was worried about something happening" during her pregnancy, which caused her extremely bad morning sickness, fatigue and shortness of breath. She began to appear in worse health the closer she got to her due date.
"She was more tired than what she normally was," he said. "She got to a point where she couldn't eat. All she did was sleep."
Her symptoms got so bad that Jasmine, a nurse practitioner, was unable to go to work. Her doctor told her what was happening was normal, but she remained concerned.
On September 28, Edgar was at work when he received a phone call telling him his wife had been taken to hospital. By the hour, the grieving husband explained, his wife's condition grew worse and she died two days after her baby girl was delivered by cesarean section.
Her cause of death was put down to acute fatty liver of pregnancy, which caused liver failure. Jasmine's daughter Emery is now home and doing well after two weeks in intensive care.
A GoFundMe page set up on the Tennessee couple's behalf has so far raised over $25,000. The aim is to start a college fund for baby Emery.
The page reads: "Jasmine believed in bettering herself through education and was a nurse practitioner. We would love to help Baby Emery achieve her future goals."
Edgar added: "I want her to know everything about her mom -- who she was, her personality, her love, most definitely, how much she wanted to have a baby and how excited she was when we finally did get pregnant. I just want her to know her mom really loved her and she was ready to be a mom.... She was scared but she was ready."
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