This Should Never Have Happened
What the case of Adriana Smith reveals about medicine, law, and the silent dangers pregnant women still face
Adriana Smith was 30 years old. A nurse. A mother. And newly pregnant with her second child when she developed a headache so severe she sought emergency care—not once, but twice.
Both times, she was discharged.
No imaging. No escalation. No diagnosis.
The next day, Adriana was found unresponsive.
By the time she reached a third hospital, it was too late.
She was declared brain dead.
But because Adriana was pregnant—roughly 8 to 9 weeks at the time—the state of Georgia stepped in. Her family was told they had no say. Adriana’s body was kept on life support for months—not for her, but to incubate the fetus inside her. Her son was eventually delivered via emergency C-section at 25 weeks, weighing less than 2 pounds.
Only then was Adriana allowed to rest.
Why We’re Telling This Story
You’ve probably seen the headlines:
“Brain-dead woman kept on life support due to abortion law.”
“Family powerless after Georgia hospital refuses to withdraw care.”
But the real story is more complicated—and more important—than a culture war flashpoint.
This is about clinical failure, legal confusion, ethical breakdown, and a mother who tried to advocate for herself and was ignored.
It’s about how a woman with medical training walked into two hospitals with a textbook red flag—and was still dismissed.
It’s about how a family lost their daughter, but wasn’t allowed to grieve her.
Not yet. Not until the state was done with her body.
And it’s about what you need to know to prevent this from happening to you—or someone you love.
What This Series Will Cover
Over the next several posts, we’ll break down what happened and why it matters:
🧠 How a severe headache in early pregnancy turned deadly—and what red flags were missed.
🏥 Why two hospitals discharged her and how clinical judgment failed.
🩻 When doctors should image a pregnant person with neurologic symptoms—and why they didn’t.
📜 What happens when pregnancy nullifies your advance directive—and how post-Roe laws create legal chaos.
⚖️ How a brain-dead woman became a vessel for forced gestation.
👶🏽 What happened to her baby—and what that teaches us about neonatal care and systemic harm.
We’ll also highlight the points where earlier action—clinical, legal, or community-based—might have saved her.
Why This Isn’t Just One Tragedy
Adriana Smith’s story is shocking—but it isn’t rare in its contours.
Black women are:
3–4x more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes
More likely to be dismissed or undertreated in emergency settings
Less likely to have their pain taken seriously
Often caught in the crossfire of abortion bans, fetal personhood laws, and medical hesitancy
Adriana did everything “right.”
She spoke up. She came back. She knew something was wrong.
And still—no one listened.
What You’ll Get From This Series
Whether you’re a pregnant patient, a birth worker, a provider, or simply someone who cares—this series will give you the tools to:
Recognize early neurologic red flags in pregnancy
Understand your rights around imaging, escalation, and consent
Learn how to protect your wishes legally, even in restrictive states
Support others navigating complex, high-risk pregnancies in a post-Roe world
Because this didn’t have to happen.
And the more we understand why it did, the better chance we have of making sure it never happens again.