A pregnant Texas teen died in agony from sepsis after doctors refused to abort her fetus even after she began miscarrying.
Navaeh Crain, 18, visited the emergency room three times and had to wait 20 hours before being admitted.
The mom-to-be had woken up the day of her baby shower feeling nauseous and vomiting, which turned out to be a deadly infection.
But she had to plead for medical help, and doctors hoped to perform two ultrasounds to confirm that her fetus had no heartbeat before intervening.
She is one of at least two pregnant women who have died after doctors delayed treating miscarriages because of Texas’ strict abortion laws, according to a report from ProPública.
Navaeh Crain, 18, (pictured with her boyfriend Randall Broussard) died in agony from sepsis after doctors refused to abort her fetus even after she began aborting.
Experts told the publication there was “no medical reason” to make Crain wait two ultrasounds before taking steps to save her.
They identified several missed opportunities, beginning when she arrived at the first hospital and was misdiagnosed with strep.
When she went to another hospital she tested positive for sepsis, but since her fetus still had a heartbeat, she was discharged.
Experts said that if the sepsis was in Crain’s uterus, she would likely need an abortion to prevent it from spreading.
Instead, he returned to the house he shared with his mother in Vidor despite being so weak he could not walk.
But hours later, Crain began to panic when he went to the bathroom and found his underwear covered in blood.
She and her mother rushed back to Christus Southeast Texas St. Elizabeth Hospital along with her boyfriend and father of the fetus, Randall Broussard.
At this point, Crain was weak and his lips lost all color. An ultrasound by the obstetrician on duty Dr. Marcelo Totorica confirmed Crain’s worst fears: her fetus had no heart.
Crain visited the emergency room three times and had to wait 20 hours before being admitted, by which time her infection had passed the point of no return.
Crain died in agony, covered in blood and too weak to even sign the forms giving doctors permission to operate if necessary.
While standard protocol would be to prepare for delivery, nurses were instructed not to move Crain, according to doctors’ notes.
Totorica ordered a second ultrasound that again confirmed the absence of a fetal heartbeat.
“He was bleeding,” said Candace Fails, Crain’s heartbroken mother. “Why didn’t they do anything to help him instead of waiting for another ultrasound to confirm that the baby is dead?”
At the time, Crain was too weak to sign her own authorization form, and Fails had to fill out paperwork allowing doctors to perform an abortion.
The move came nearly two and a half hours after her daughter was admitted and more than 20 hours since she first sought help.
But tragically, it was too late and doctors deemed operating on her too risky. Crain died in “extreme pain” with black blood gushing from his nostrils and mouth.
Fails faced the agony of losing not only her daughter but also her future granddaughter, whom the couple had named Lillian.
“I know it sounds selfish, and God knows I would rather have them both, but if I had to choose, I would have chosen my daughter,” Fails said.
She is one of at least two pregnant women who died after doctors delayed treating miscarriages because of Texas’ strict abortion laws.
Crain had chosen the name Lillian along with her mother and her boyfriend Broussard.
She has tried, unsuccessfully, to get medical malpractice lawyers to take on her daughter’s case, even though Totorica was previously disciplined for failing to detect infections in other patients.
Texas abortion laws prohibit doctors from performing abortions once a fetus’s heartbeat is detected, unless the mother’s life is in danger.
But the legislation’s murky wording has led some doctors to delay care for fear of being prosecuted, fined or having their license revoked, both very real consequences for violators of the law.
Women’s rights activists point to the deaths of women like Crain as evidence that the law is harming mothers.
It comes after it emerged that a pregnant mother from Texas, Josseli Barnica, died in 2021 after doctors failed to provide her with adequate care during her miscarriage at 17 weeks.
Doctors were reluctant to deliver her fetus, which led to her contracting a fatal infection in her cervix.
“CHRISTUS St. Elizabeth believes the care provided to this patient was at all times appropriate and compassionate,” a spokeswoman said.
‘However, due to HIPAA and privacy, we are unable to comment further. Christus Southeast Texas St. Elizabeth hospital for comment.’
