DENVER, N.C. — Since 2018, Brandon and Tomeka Isaac have used their darkest days as a guiding light to help others.
“Two weeks before everything just happened, Jace was measuring small. That’s a symptom of something going on,” Tomeka Isaac shared.
Jace is their tragically stillborn son.
“The next week he failed another stress test. Again, something going on,” Tomeka Isaac said. “I went to get an ultrasound, and they told me he was fine. That Monday our son had passed away and I was dying myself.”
After more than a month in the hospital and several surgeries, the Isaacs left the hospital together without Jace.
“Jace’s death could’ve been prevented had they intervened when he was measuring small, had they intervened when he failed another stress test,” she said.
That is why the couple started Jace’s Journey, becoming advocates for stillbirth prevention in the wake of losing him. Jace’s Journey is a nonprofit that raises awareness and works to improve maternal and fetal health care disparities.
Brandon Isaac said the work he and his wife have been doing has been therapeutic.
“It has helped the healing journey. As you go along the journey you don’t see as many fathers speaking out about it,” he said. “It has helped other fathers in their healing journey.”
According to Healthy Birth Day Inc., fewer than 20 state health departments in the United States are using a portion of existing funds to address stillbirth. Right now, North Carolina doesn’t have programs in place focused on stillbirth prevention.
“These disparities exist regardless of what you may think. 'Did I go to all my appointments' are questions that people ask,” Tomeka Isaac said.
However, for the Isaacs and the many families and organizations advocating for change, some light was shed on this situation.
In July, President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act. The new law clarifies that current funding through the maternal and child health services block grant can be used for stillbirth prevention activities.
“Being able to advocate for this and being able to see it come to fruition was amazing," said Tomeka Isaac. "Policy, this actually works."
And it's policy that she said is now going to be used.
“You hear people introducing bills all the time and never seeing anything happen from it. So, being a witness to something actually being put into place was amazing,” she said.
North Carolina Congresswoman Alma Adams, co-sponsor of the bill and co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus, said in a statement:
We owe it to our mothers to reduce or remove the unnecessary risks that have made pregnancy unsafe. Thanks to the Stillbirth Prevention Act, we will address this injustice so more mothers and babies experience a healthy birth and make it home with their families. I am thankful to my colleagues in Congress, President Biden, and all the advocates for helping us make this legislation the law of the land.
Contact Nick Sturdivant at nsturdiva1@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.