An Inglewood hospital violated federal requirements in ways that could jeopardize patients, including by failing to properly assess and treat birthing patients to reduce the risk of blood clots, a state review found. Centinela Hospital Medical Center repeatedly failed to take steps to prevent patients from suffering potentially deadly clots, which can include using compression devices that improve blood flow in the legs, investigators from the California Department of Public Health found after a February visit.
The state officials were surveying Centinela Hospital to see if it was meeting several conditions for participating in federal programs that reimburse hospitals, an investigation that was undertaken with the approval of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to a complaint. The findings by the California Department of Public Health followed a public outcry over the death of a Black woman who delivered a baby at the Inglewood hospital. Black women remain at the highest risk of dying of pregnancy complications in California compared with women of other races, despite some progress in reducing the rate of maternal deaths.
California has been a leader in reducing maternal mortality. Valentine left behind a baby daughter named Aniya, whose photos Mack has sent to government investigators to humanize the reality of her growing up without her mother.
Among pregnant women in California, cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death between and , followed by hemorrhage, sepsis, thrombotic pulmonary embolism, and amniotic fluid embolism. More than a quarter of the deaths happened on the day of delivery. Some progress has been made with decreasing the rate of maternal deaths among Black women in California. The most recent state data from between and shows there were Black maternal deaths per , live births, down from However, Black women in California continue to be at the highest risk of dying from pregnancy complications compared to women of other races.
Between and there were 15 maternal deaths per , live births among Asian women, At Centinela Hospital, state investigators found that for several patients in the labor and delivery unit, medical records did not show appropriate steps being taken to address the risk of blood clots, which can form in the legs or arms and then make their way to the lungs.
