By Eileen Guo, March 26, 2020, NYT
“I didn’t feel like it was unfair of the hospital. I thought it was unfair of the universe.”
— Smita Nadia Hussein, a mother of two, who gave birth on March 17 in Morristown, N.J.
[This article is a partnership between The New York Times and The Fuller Project. In Her Words is available as a newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.]
On Wednesday, March 18, 28-year-old Latoyha Young and her mother, Thomasina Hayten, rushed to Sutter Health Hospital in Sacramento, believing that Young was in labor. Hospital staff sent her home — she wasn’t far enough along.
Two days later, Young spent her expected due date searching stores in Sacramento for key items: baby wipes, diapers and hand sanitizer.
The mother-and-daughter pair, who are homeless, dependent on city transportation and have been staying temporarily with a relative, needed supplies before a shelter-in-place order that went into effect on Monday. They found wipes, but no diapers.
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