154. Creating Maternal Health Awareness After Loss

In this deeply moving episode, I sit down with Eddie Garcia, Elisa Garcia, Christina Galindo, and Jessica Bess to hear Francilia Garcia's story - a beloved wife, first-time mother, and advocate who tragically passed away from childbirth complications just weeks after welcoming her twin boys.

Through their grief, Francilia's family created Francilia's Twice the Love Foundation to raise awareness about preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, and postpartum risks that claim too many mothers' lives.

For detailed show notes, visit vivalamami.com/episode154

A note before listening: This episode discusses pregnancy loss, maternal death, and grief. The content is deeply personal and may be difficult for some listeners, especially those who have experienced similar losses or trauma. Please listen when you feel emotionally prepared, and know that it's okay to pause or step away if needed.

What You'll Hear:

• Francilia's journey through infertility and her tragic passing from pregnancy complications
• The warning signs of preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome that every pregnant person and new mother needs to know
• Racial disparities in maternal healthcare and why women of color are the most vulnerable
• How to advocate for yourself during pregnancy and postpartum 
• The creation of Francilia's Twice the Love Foundation and how they're supporting families while keeping Francilia's memory alive

Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

• Preeclampsia Foundation
• Post on maternal health statistics and research
• Annual Walk Event - Join Francilia's Twice the Love Foundation in May

Follow Francilia's Twice the Love Foundation

• Instagram: @franciliastwicethelove
• TikTok: @franciliastwicethelove
• Email: franciliastwicethelove@gmail.com

Transcript

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 0:00

having experienced pregnancy and really not knowing what to expect, I just encourage all women do your research. just because you're pregnant, it doesn't mean it's a pregnancy symptom or a pregnancy sign. It, it could be something. And I think a lot about Francia. When she was pregnant, she never complained. Nothing was ever wrong just because she was so happy to be pregnant. She was grateful. But looking at, at everything, there were signs, right? She was swollen. She kept complaining that there was like a, an ache in her side. I told her, what is it? She's like, oh, the baby's probably kicking, but when you look deeper into it. It, it's one of the signs, right, of preeclampsia. But she would say, the doctors say it's fine. They're not concerned. So I think really just educating ourselves when we're planning on getting pregnant or being pregnant, what is normal and what is not

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 0:49

Mm-hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 0:50

Christina said it, anything that's not our normal baseline is concerning.

Jessica 2:00

Ola. Ola. Welcome to the Viva La Mommy Podcast. I'm your host Jessica Cuevas. And on today's episode, I am so excited to have my very first, like Quadra whatever interview here with four amazing people. I do cover a lot of topics here on the podcast, and ultimately this is to empower, educate, and really bring the Latina mom community together so that we don't have to do this motherhood thing alone. And a lot of the topics that I've shared, through previous guests were about nuanced and very special circumstances that really affected, moms on the podcast. And so for this episode it's gonna be pretty deep, I would say, um, just because I have four amazing people that really went through a hard, hard loss, but through this loss, they are really making an impact in their community. And I hope that they will be making an impact to you, whoever you're listening, to bring awareness to maternal health. I am really glad that first of all, y'all reached out to me and now I'm giving you the platform to speak and really talk about your experience and Francilia's Foundation as well. And so just to prep my listeners here and those that are watching on YouTube, we're gonna go through a quick introduction so that way people can get to know you so we can get started with Eddie. Because I think that you're a very important person to have here on the show.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 3:39

Thank you. Yeah. Um, my name's Eddie. Um, I'm originally from Calexico, Cal, California. I'm Francilia's husband and Fran and I have, you know, been living in Orange County, LA County, um, for the past 17 years. Um. We were most, we spent most of our time in Fullerton, California and recently just moved, uh, to Yorba Linda. We have our, our twin boys, uh, Micah and Elijah.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 4:08

All right. Well, we can go with Christina.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 4:11

Hi, my name is Christina. I'm actually Eddie's aunt. Um, I'm the secretary of the Foundation. Um, so I live in Imperial County. I've been born and raised here. Um, but that's who I, and then I'm also ha I also have background in healthcare, so I, um, a pediatric nurse practitioner, but I also had 15 years of NICU and OB experience as well. Um, but that's my, my part.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 4:38

Yeah. Thank you Christina. And then we can go with Jessica.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 4:42

Um, my name is Jessica, be, I'm Francilia's sister and born and raised in the Imperial Valley. Um, yeah, and I'm one of the board members. I'm the vice president.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 4:54

Great. And then Elisa,

elisa-garcia_1_02-12-2026_180405 4:58

Hi, I am Elisa. I'm Eddie's sister, Francilia's sister-in-law. Um, Francilia came into my life when I was about 10 years old. I'm 32 now for reference, so very, very long time. She was a, a sister to me. Um, I live right now in Chula Vista, California, but I'm from Calexico, California as well. am the social media person for our foundation, our Instagram page. And my full-time day job is actually, I'm an ICU nurse, so I also have a healthcare background as well.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 5:29

Oh wow. Wow. Yeah, things are kind of parallel here and, and I would like to really know about. Just the impact of healthcare right in, in the United States. And I think that many of us, again, we don't talk about, the lack of, I wouldn't say education because, you know, I think a lot of our com like our communities can't be vulnerable, but it's more so how can people be empathetic and how can you know providers, right, specifically, provide, equitable and accessible, um, healthcare to patients that historically have been disenfranchised. And so we can, you know, talk a little bit about that and especially like your experience coming from that background. Um, but the purpose of, you being here is to talk about Francilia's twice the Love Foundation. And this is a non-for-profit, right? And so can you tell our listeners. Who Francilia is and then how that sort of impacted, um, your decision to create a, a foundation.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 6:37

yeah, so I'll start with that. Um. And I do wanna take the time to honor those that are experiencing a loss, because it is, it never failed. Any time that I talk about,

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 6:53

I.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 6:53

her story, it's just, it's still really painful. It's, um, we're still dealing with the grief and that's why I wanna honor those and take this opportunity in this platform to let people know that are listening, um, that it's okay to not be okay. And to many of you, this will just be a story. Um, but this is our reality and we just want, we don't want anyone to go through this. And so we really hope that listening finds this valuable because everyone, you know, a mom, a sister, a friend, a coworker, someone they know that's getting pregnant or wants to get pregnant. And so we really hope that you take away something important from this. Um, if you have experienced a death, you of a loved one, you know very well that you never forget, you learn to live with the pain. that's what we're doing right now. We're learning to live with the pain of losing Francilia. It's been 10 months since Francilia's year 2025 was a devastating and life-changing year for all of us. Francilia's journey to becoming pregnant was very challenging. years of struggling with infertility and being told that it was an unexplained infertility, um, she finally got the gift of being pregnant with two twin boys. During the time when she was struggling with her infertility, um, trying to become pregnant, she completely changed her life. Um, her eating habits. She didn't drink, she didn't smoke. She read all the labels, made sure she was using clean products in her house. Um, her makeup, her skincare, her clothing, um, made sure everything was organic or clean ingredients. She would give me such a hard time for using candles because she's like, that's so bad for you. Don't be using candles. she really tried to do the right thing. She would do her own research and she even did acupuncture. You know, she did everything that she possibly could to come out pregnant.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 9:07

Hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 9:07

She was told, um, at one point that she had P-C-P-C-O-S and endometriosis and, um, her endometriosis, if I'm not mistaken, it was, uh, like a stage four. So it was pretty severe. And the challenging part right now that we're talking about the healthcare is when you, when you think about Franci's journey to motherhood, it's. You can say she was let down by the healthcare in many ways, right? Because there was, there was something going on with her, but they just told her, it's unexplainable. We can't tell you why you cannot, can't come out pregnant. Sorry. But there was a reason why and after the endometriosis was treated, um, which I believe was in May, she became pregnant a couple of months later, so maybe like July or August. She enjoyed every moment of being pregnant. Um, she did all the mommy to be things. When you asked her how are you feeling, everything was always great. She was glowing. felt good. She really embraced being pregnant. Um, she was truly glowing. And if you visit our Instagram, we have a lot of pictures of her baby shower. And that was just such a special day because that was the day that were celebrating her. So, um, come towards the end of March. complications that were arising really appeared, um, that week that she, um, went in to give birth. So she gave birth on a Thursday, but a few days before that, she was admitted to the hospital for what we now realize were early signs of preeclampsia.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 10:56

Hm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 10:56

And Christina will touch on that. Um, you know, what the signs and the symptoms are. But she was admitted. She was in the hospital for I believe a day, um, overnight, and then she was released. come Thursday she went in for a routine checkup um, I received a phone call from her, maybe 6:00 PM 7:00 PM and she told me, Jessica, um. It, it's gonna happen tonight. I'm gonna give birth. And I said, what do you mean it's not time yet? It, it was just a checkup. And she said, I know, but baby A, which is Eli, um, appear to have little heartbeat. So they're like, it needs to happen. You need to have an emergency C-section. And so we thought, okay, it's gonna happen. a few hours later we got the picture of Eddie holding the boys and Francilia laying down. And um, it's such a, it was such a beautiful experience just to be able to see her finally be holding her babies. Um, I received a phone call from her around midnight and I told her, Hey, congratulations. How are you feeling? And she said, I'm feeling good. Everything was fine. It went well. I, I am just feeling really tired. And I said, okay, well, I'll call you tomorrow in the morning. did I know that. That everything was gonna change after that phone call. Um, this, this whole, everything happened within a month period. And the first two weeks after she gave birth, she just experienced so much pain. the babies were released to us on Monday, and it was just such a sad moment because it was me changing the babies into their newborn outfit. It was Eddie who was in the, in the wheelchair holding the babies and we're wheel him out of the hospital, um, when every mom is waiting to experience that moment.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 13:03

Hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 13:04

But Francilia so positive and she was so strong. And when you asked her, how are you, how are you feeling? Everything was, I'm okay.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 13:13

Hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 13:14

It's okay. It's gonna be okay. It's fine. Um. I, I just, she just wanted to go home. She wanted to go home to her babies. And so those two weeks were difficult. And the easiest way for me to explain what happened in those two weeks, again, Christina go into much more detail, is her body went into shock and a lot of her organs stopped working, right? She experienced dialysis, a lot of blood transfusions. Um, her kidneys were not working, and the list goes on. I mean, we say everything that could go wrong really went wrong after her birth. And, um, again, two weeks later, she was released from the hospital and she got to spend a week at home

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 13:59

Hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 14:00

Eddie, with the babies. My mom was there to help her. And when I would check on her, you know, she sounded tired and, most of all, she was just so grateful to be home.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 14:13

Hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 14:13

when we look at pictures from that week. She was doing the mommy things, you know, just hanging out with Eddie and the babies and enjoying breakfast outside with him, going for walks, just everything that she talked about doing. Um, during that week, she became ill and she was readmitted to the, to the hospital and a few days, a few days after she passed away, um, she passed away on April 20th.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 14:51

Hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 14:52

And so just looking back at what we've experienced, it is, it is a complete nightmare and. I think un until you experienced a loss of, of a loved one like Francilia, she was so special to us. She was so loved and I taught everybody. She filled the waiting rooms. Staff was amazed at how many people were there just waiting for her to get up and come home.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 15:24

Hmm. Yeah.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 15:28

Fran's case is very complicated and it's, it's a very difficult story to explain. There's so many details that, um, that occurred during that month period. And I wanna emphasize that Francilia wanted nothing more than to be a mom, and she gave birth to two beautiful, healthy boys. Um, now it's up to us and I refer to us as her village to help support Eddie and Sheriff Francilia stories with her boys. Not just the story of her death, but the story of her life. We want them to know who she was and not just what happened to her. And that has everything to do with, um, the thought of our foundation, which

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 16:20

Hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 16:21

Elisa will, talk to you all about.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 16:24

Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for sharing this story. Um, and really well before Elisa, you know, before you go through us in, in terms of your inspiration to create this foundation, right. I first wanna acknowledge that Francilia is very lucky to have her village. Um, and that y'all are doing everything that you can to raise these two boys, because if anything, you know, that comes out of this conversation, like y'all, her angels, you know, that like you are her angels for raising these boys, for like, literally supporting Eddie and also for, you know, just like creating this organization in her name, like. And, you know, and I've interviewed a lot of people who have had ex like, traumatic birth experiences and, and they always say how, like they've always talked about like the what ifs. Like how would I know that my kids are gonna be safe if something happens to me? And now getting this from this perspective right from this other side, like, she's so lucky to have you all. And, and I'm really glad that you're here and really talk about this because a lot of times we, we just don't know about the impact that can make once someone, um, is gone. Right. And, and I am so glad that you're here that, yeah. I, I have no words but to thank you all for being here.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 18:13

Thank you for having us.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 18:14

to, um, also mention that, uh, aside from us, there are other board members that are heavily involved, which includes, uh, my mom, Lupita Rosalinda, which is Eddie's mom and one of her best friends, Irma. And I must say that I feel so blessed to have the family that I have and to have the friends that I have and just be so accepted by our community because it is, it is so hard. The everyday, just day-to-day things are very challenging because. You are calling us her an her angels, but she really is our angel. She really is a person that's making us get up and go, making us do all this. we're honestly just trying to sprinkle her spirit, her essence, and just share her story because that's how special she

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 19:10

Hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 19:10

She was very loved and we just wanna share her with the world and that everyone know the good person she was.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 19:19

Wow. Elise, can you tell us a little bit more about, everyone's inspiration in creating, Francilia's Choice to Love Foundation?

elisa-garcia_1_02-12-2026_180405 19:27

Yeah. So when she passed away a couple months later, I wanna say it was like in August, were like, okay, we, she passed away, but we can't let her name fade. Like what can we do to keep her memory alive? So, um, we started talking to Jessica, to Lupita, my mom, Eddie, my Tia, like, what can we do to keep her name alive? So are like, let's create a foundation and let's, uh. awareness to maternal health so that nobody else has to experience this ever again. Because even us being healthcare professionals, this still happened in our family. So we're like, okay, what about just, you know, the normal, regular person or mom? So we were like, okay, let's start a foundation. But we were like, none of us, well, I didn't know how to start a foundation, so I'm like googling, like how to create a 5 0 3 C and we're like bouncing off ideas. So what should we do? We always knew we wanted to do the maternal health awareness, but we wanted to honor Francilia spirit. She was very kind, very giving. She was involved with, um, homeless intervention shelter in Orange County. She was also a case manager for kids, and then she was also a, um, teacher's aid for special needs. So we're like, okay, we can incorporate that. Um, into our foundation. And so that's what we did. So part of our, our foundation is we do give back to the community and that part is honoring her spirit and,

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 20:57

Hmm

elisa-garcia_1_02-12-2026_180405 20:57

know, keeping her memory alive. And then the other part, of course is bringing the awareness to maternal health. Um, we've been invited to speak at different places and well now your podcast. Um, but ultimately this is for her and this is for Micah and Elijah because we want them to continue to know their mom and then hopefully as they get older, they could be involved, um, as well in the foundation. So.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 21:23

Yeah. That's so beautiful. Oh my gosh. Like, wow. Um. I, I just, I think she is very lucky to have you all. Like, and, and I can speak from like our community as Latinos, like we, we do acknowledge, you know, death in, in this like, kind of like a macro level, right? But in terms of honoring someone and even like paying tribute or even writing an obituary, at least for me, like, I hardly see that within our community. And the fact that you are literally creating an organization in her name and in her honor and, you know, keeping her alive in this way, like that is just beautiful. And, and the fact that you're also helping people, especially moms, or mothers to be about this because, you know, unfortunately the healthcare system has. Has literally, um, just like disenfranchised us. Like, it, it, and, and I know that I'm speaking out of privilege because I grew up, you know, having access to healthcare, right? I've always been insured and everything. But even if you're trying to do the right things, and even if you over prepare yourself, there's still this, just like this gap and, and y'all are helping fill in this gap for those that, you know, you know, tore create this awareness. And so many of mamas, and especially like women of color specifically, um, may not be familiar with, uh, like issues with preeclampsia, right? Or any other childbirth, um, complications that may come in the way. And I think it's this. Sort of illusion, right? That, oh, as soon as I'm in the hospital, I'm gonna leave with the baby and go home with the baby. But we really don't talk about like the com, the actual complications that may come in the way. You know, we just think about the blissful things and the blissful events, and we don't talk about the raw realities of pregnancy, uh, you know, pregnancy loss, um, childbirth loss, like, and the fact that Francilia was like home. And then that story, honestly, it's very unique and I've never heard of this, that the fact that she was home for a couple weeks and then unfortunately she passed away and,

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 24:00

was home for one week, short period of time.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 24:03

yeah. Yeah. And so can you explain sort of like the conditions that, uh. Kinda led to that event. And I know that this may be very difficult for many people to listen or, or see and you know, through on YouTube, but what are some warning signs that you notice that are common, at least for people who have had experience this, um, whether if it's during pregnancy, after pregnancy, after having a baby. Like how, you know, can people be aware of this so that they know,

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 24:40

Um, you kind of answered it actually really well. Um, because, you know, pregnancy is meant to be beautiful in every, in every, in all its sense, right? But it's really not over until it's over. And that's my experience from when I worked in OB and nicu. So I've seen a lot of things happen and, you know, from my, my part, it was a, a lot more infant loss than maternal

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 25:05

Hmm.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 25:05

I feel like more and more now. I'm not really sure why. Um, we are, and I don't know whether it's social media or not, um, but you're seeing more ma maternal deaths happen. Um, and a lot of it is due to things like and all these disorders that kind of all ramble together in a sense. So on the maternal health side, like our biggest, um. Part that we want to express is, you know, if you're thinking about getting pregnant, you are pregnant or you just had a baby that you shouldn't be hearing the words such as preeclampsia or help syndrome. And yes, even in this rural community that we have, there's a lot of women that kind of are just very blind to a lot of things. So they wouldn't even think of anything like that. Um, like they wouldn't even put that in the back of their mind. But like, what is preeclampsia? It's how it's elevated blood pressure. A lot of times it shows itself around 20 weeks of pregnancy. They consider it a blood pressure anywhere, like over one 40, over 90. And like I always say it over and over, I always tell everybody, always know. Where you started, what was your normal baseline before you got pregnant or at the beginning of your pregnancy? Because then if these things start showing up, like your blood pressure's higher than normal, you start having headaches, blurry vision, sudden onset of swelling of hands and feet, we talk about like the upper gastric pain. Um, you know, things like that. Those are signs that you should kind of be in tune with and not, not dismiss. Not to say that any of that happened, but a lot of women tend to do that. Like they don't really, you know, pay any attention to it. They just kind of relate it to the pregnancies. So, um, the other thing is, is making sure that they also are aware that preeclampsia can last six weeks postpartum. So it's not really over a lot of times too, that's kind of in the healthcare part where. I wish it was a little bit closely monitored.'cause in reality, you don't, the baby gets the checkup three days later. The mother

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 27:12

No.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 27:13

the checkup right away. She gets it two weeks, sometimes even a couple weeks after the fact. And they don't get seen right away, especially those high risk moms. So preeclampsia is actually very, um, it can get very dangerous and it can lead to something severe, such as health syndrome, which is hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count. These lead to DIC, which is a bleeding disorder, organ failure, heart failure. And then things such as, um, infant loss or maternal

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 27:44

Mm-hmm.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 27:44

happen. And that's what we really want people to kind of be aware of as well. Um, but right now the biggest kind of shining that I'm kind of seeing a lot too is the post. once they go home, there's a lot of. Maternal deaths that are happening after the fact. And it's a lot due to a lot of the cardiac complications that came from the preeclampsia or the health syndrome or the diabetes or things like that, that they kind of just get missed too often. Um, so for us, that's kind of where we wanna educate that, that they don't hear these words until it's too late, that they're just kind of really in tune, um, with their, with their bodies, kind of knowing where they start, knowing when to speak up. If they don't feel good, make sure they go and get checked. Um, and just, just not wait. Um, like the girls were saying, like the reason why this foundation and how we imprint her name was just kind of starting on the gift giving, but that was a way for us to kind of imprint and share her story and bring awareness to the community as well. So, um, little by little, you know, a lot of women come, uh, up and, you know, they always say like, thank you for talking about it because, know, nobody ever told me what

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 28:58

Mm-hmm.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 28:59

was. in all reality, I truly, truly wish Elia was speaking up here, like those women as a survivor, but now it's our time to speak up for her, so it doesn't happen to anybody else. And that's like the biggest goal because

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 29:13

Yeah.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 29:14

should somebody else's story, and that's where we don't want.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 29:17

Right. Oh my gosh, yes. That's so impactful that it, this story is hers and it's real. And, and what better way to honor her and to educate people and to normalize it too, because

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 29:32

Mm-hmm.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 29:33

a lot of times there's so much guilt that if your pregnancy is' imperfect, that your childbirth experience isn't perfect and you are all going through this grief. Right. And, and again, like I think it's just like. The misconceptions and the lack of awareness, the misinformation sometimes that is being given and the lack of resources, like there's so many layers to this e and yeah. And, and I'm so glad that you created this foundation so that you can, you know, hopefully make effective change and collective change really, especially for those, um, who may suffer from preeclampsia or help, uh, syndrome, you know, and, and perhaps they have this kind of information in the back of their heads and they're like, no, I actually feel this way. I actually need help for this or support for that. I really want to just acknowledge the fact that, you know, you're having this conversation here and I'm pretty sure that you're going to make an impact for those that are listening here. And especially within our community, right? Like, I feel that, like I said, there is this lack of support oftentimes, especially for women of color. So through your experience, Elisa, um, or Christina, like, have you seen sort of similar parallels? Is it because, um, are there misconceptions about women of color or, how has your practice really, um, validated, like now what you're experiencing and vice versa?

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 31:11

Um, on my, on my end personally because of where I am located. Um, we are a very high Hispanic population. Um, maybe Elisa can maybe speak, or Eddie can probably see it a little bit different, um, in my area. I just feel like it's a very, um. Uh, it's a very high Hispanic population in, in that sense, but they're also not very educated. They're also kind of just, they don't really get their questions answered either in, in a sense, fully. There are some amazing providers. Um, it's just not accessible to everybody. So from my perspective, I can't really fill that answer. Maybe Elisa or, or, um, Eddie can on that part.

elisa-garcia_1_02-12-2026_180405 31:56

Um, I also work in a hospital that's near the border so heavily, um. Mexican and Filipino and I work with a different population. However, do think there are like innate racial biases, even if like, that are ingrained into our healthcare system.'cause even if you talk about like, you know, the GFR, which is like a measure of kidney function. There's like, um, a specific measure for African Americans and now they're saying it's, it's outdated. So certain things like that. But, um, to add onto that, I did post something to our Instagram from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, and I'm just gonna read it real

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 32:36

Mm-hmm.

elisa-garcia_1_02-12-2026_180405 32:37

Um, so it's basically saying that. Uh, the amount of pregnancy related deaths has increased. Over 80% were determined to be prevent preventable, it says there has been a sharp increase in these deaths, which is driven by worsening maternal health, uh, outcomes and racial disparities. For example, black patients are three times more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than white patients. then it goes on to say, severe and maternal morbidity defined as unexpected outcomes of labor and delivery that result in significant short or long-term consequences for a patient's health has increased 200%, 200% from 1993 to 2024, which I think is crazy. This is from a reputable organization, American Association of Critical Care. So clearly there is an issue with our system.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 33:33

Wow.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 33:33

Mm-hmm.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 33:35

you'd think that would change just because, you know, technology has gotten better, but

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 33:39

Right.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 33:39

it's crazy how it's getting worse. But

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 33:42

Yeah.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 33:43

Yeah.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 33:43

I feel like I, I, I'm, I, like, I, in my years that I worked, I had one maternal loss. I had, there's more infant loss that I would see, um, due to it, but one maternal loss. But then it, it just, in the last two, three years, I, like I said, I don't know if it's social media, but it's like things happening monthly, almost on a monthly basis. Why, why is this happening? Why are we discharging women so soon? Why are we dismissing the, the high risk patients so fast? Why aren't they being seen sooner after discharge? Um, those are things that. Are kind of worrisome. There are some good things that are coming up, like LabCorp came out in May 20, 24 of a biomarker. It's not a a, it's just a screening tool to see who's higher at risk of preeclampsia and, and danger. So, I mean, hopefully these movements for maternal health do start making impactful ways because medicine that we have now, this should not

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 34:38

No.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 34:38

anybody's story anymore, you know? So,

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 34:41

Right.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 34:41

uh, I'm hoping that, you know, just kind of with us and every foundation moving forward, speaking on these things that we do start seeing more change positively in, um, the care of women and, you know, that we're not, you know, giving birth is not just easy. It takes a toll on a woman. So I'm hoping that, you know, this. foundation, um, grows and grows and it grows into something beautiful along the way. And it's also something beautiful for the boys and the gift giving part so they can learn a part of their mom's

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 35:14

Yeah,

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 35:14

honestly who she was. That was the gift giving part for her.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 35:17

yeah, yeah. Wow. Yeah. There's so many aspects of this right here. Just the fact that yeah, there, the xi there isn't updated research on women's bodies, right? And so, yeah. There's already a lack of that, you know, within academia and science and I just really hope that through your organization, it helps these organizations like these, credentialing, research-based organizations to level up like their, understanding of maternal health. Like it's so, I, you know, and again, I'm just speaking out of like me. You know, just like mind blown, right? That the fact that there isn't research, that there isn't equitable care, that there is a lack of, um, understanding, you know, and a lack of just like willingness, right? To work with families and like, kind of like with you, Christina, who mentioned like, you know, these healthcare providers, they could be the best of the best, but if they're not answering their questions or if these patients don't really know how to ask the questions, like where do they go from here?

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 36:31

Yeah.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 36:31

know? don't know if.

elisa-garcia_1_02-12-2026_180405 36:32

Wanted to add like, I know,'cause we were talking about like the racial disparities. We are from a small, um, community by the border Mexican and our, speaking of that, our OB department in El Centro closed down a couple years ago. So now there's only one hospital to give birth, which is in Braley. Um, and this is kind of going off topic, but there's been a lot of rural hospitals, um, across the country that are closing their maternal health services. So where do these, and mainly people living in these communities are people of color. So where do these people go? Where do these moms go? Like it puts their life at risk and that's a whole other different topic, but

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 37:14

but it's connected. It's connected, you know, and it's just telling that there needs to be a change, like there needs to be effective change for every woman in the United States, for every child in the United States, for every family in the United States. Um, and, and I hate that this happened to you, right? That you know, you, you have experienced a loss that shouldn't have been. Loss. And so now that you are in this sort of new chapter right, and honoring Francilia and creating this organization, what are some things that you recommend, um, you know, that mothers are expecting? Parents and our community should take away from Francilia story, but also from just like having this awareness in maternal health.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 38:11

Um, so we want mothers or, you know, expecting parents and our community to take away from fina's stories that being heard, can save lives. Um. She was, uh, someone who was strong, um, and a loving person, but her concerns, um, were not fully recognized or, or acted on. Um, so, you know, her, her story reminds us that, you know, maternal health doesn't, uh, in that delivery, um, that symptoms after birth matter and that parents, uh, should feel empowered to speak up and be taken seriously without fear of, you know, dismissal. Right? Because when you talk to doctors, you kind of get a little intimidated, you know,'cause they're doctors and, you know, they're very knowledgeable. So you might be afraid, you know, to ask that question, or you might feel stupid asking a question, but you shouldn't feel that way. Um, so we want families to trust their instincts, um, ask questions, and know they deserve thorough, compassionate care. So as a community, you know, we hope that Francilia's story encourages accountability, education, and a deeper commitment, uh, you know, to protecting mothers, uh, during one of the most, you know, vulnerable times of their lives. You know,

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 39:37

Yeah. Yeah.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 39:38

you know.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 39:38

Wow. yeah, that's spot on. And, and I hope that your message is spread, um, not just within our community, right. For those that are listening, watching, uh, your community. But I think it goes beyond, right, that I think if, if we wanna honor families, you know, this is ultimately connected to the way that women are treated in the United States, the way that families are treated, the way that children are treated. And, and if that's something that the US is proud of, you know, that families come first, well, hey, there's an issue here and we need to resolve it, you know? Yeah.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 40:21

To add to that, I think Eddie it. That that was exactly our experience. We. Trusted the doctors. We, these are the professionals. This is what they do every day. And I wanna encourage all women to advocate for themselves. And Francilia was huge about that, especially when you really know her infertility journey. It was her, she kept saying, I'm not gonna accept it. There's more, there's more that needs to be done. And she searched and she kept going. And she tried different things which led her to becoming pregnant. And she would always tell me, Jessica, when you go to the doctor, make sure you tell them you've been struggling with so and so thing, or that you've been feeling so and so thing that this is not getting better. This is not helping. so learning from her, I've really learned the power of my voice, how we can make a change. And we know our bodies best. I think we tend to underestimate things and say, it's okay, it's normal. Um, I'm sure it's nothing. And I think she really believed that

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 41:34

Hmm

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 41:34

that was who she was. She was a very optimistic person, but we also trusted the

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 41:40

mm-hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 41:41

knew what they were doing. And it's very interesting, just like we've been talking about since Francilia's passing number of stories that we've learned similar to Francilia's. It's, it's incredible. It is so sad. And it breaks our heart and we're just thinking, what else can we do? What more can we do? We can't stop doing what we're doing. It is, it is so, so devastating to hear the stories of these young women that are passing away after giving birth. It's,

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 42:14

Yeah,

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 42:15

not be happening now.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 42:16

No. Yeah. And I, and I wonder, you know, what are some things that we can do, right? That, you know, those that are either outside of your physical community, you know, where you're located, uh, for the survivors as well, you know, for the families of survivors or those that were affected through loss. Like, what can we do, um, to create this awareness, to support your foundation, um, and ultimately take action. Like, what can we do?

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 42:56

Well, I would like everybody to chime in on this

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 42:58

Yes.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 42:59

this is a really, this is really important and I think what we're doing right now is simply

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 43:04

Mm-hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 43:05

it, having the conversation. two kids of my own and I knew about this, and it might be ignorant of me to not have known, but. It was just never brought to my attention. Right? And I think this, I think collaborations are very important. People wanting to connect, people, wanting to meet people, wanting to just talk, to learn. and all the donations we receive, just give it back. We just pour into our community. And again, you can visit us on Instagram, you'll see the donations. We give the baskets, we give our raffles, um, all the giveaways thanks to our sponsors. We're truly just trying to do good and inform, and anyone wants to add to that.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 43:52

Yeah. And I, I think that just like having a, a platform for anybody who wants to share, like the women that thank us, thank, thank us for, or like, not even, we, we, we are just trying to just make sure that this doesn't happen to anybody else. But we also wanna give'em a voice too. So to share their story, whether it was a birth trauma, whether they experienced the same, you know, symptoms that they're standing here as a survivor, what they went through and what they're still going through. A lot of them are still having medical care after the fact of all these, you know, the sequela, preeclampsia and health or, you know, anything that happened to them. Um, so just having a safe place to talk about it, even if it's just amongst women. We're not. Experts either. Um, we just want to make sure that we give them resources or kind of guide'em in the right way. Um, but we're hoping that more people can reach out to us and share things. Uh, you know, even, we would even love for the more of the experts and the medical professionals to kind of invite us and educate us as well so we can learn along with them. Um, but yeah, hopeful, hopefully we, we are, we feel, and we hope we continue to make a big impact and, and something for the boys to look forward to. And then the, you know, the part where she's talking about the gift giving that is so that they can be a part of who their mom's heart was. So

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 45:11

Yeah.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 45:12

hoping that we can continue to share that with everybody.

elisa-garcia_1_02-12-2026_180405 45:15

Yeah, if you guys could just show your support by following our page. You know, we post a lot of information on there, a lot from the Preeclampsia Foundation. Um, and then we do have some special events coming up, so if you guys wanna tune in. Um, but yeah. Eddie, do you have anything to say?

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 45:36

Uh, no, I, I think my TI hit it, you know, right on, on the right on head. Um, with the goal, this foundation is to hopefully, you know, we can't, you know, legally give medical advice, but we can give some guidance after actually

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 45:49

Mm-hmm.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 45:49

this. Now we know what to look for and what questions to ask. And, you know, my sister's in charge of the social media. My, my aunt, um, so I'm not sure if they've, if people already have direct message them about questions that you know about what. Their journeys is, uh, or

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 46:10

Yeah.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 46:10

through. Um, you know, so hopefully, you know, like what, that's what we're using this for, you know, to make sure this doesn't happen to anybody and, you know, to provide some guidance, you know,

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 46:21

Yeah.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 46:21

it's, it's, it's, it's, it's been a nightmare, you know, having to live life without my wife. So

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 46:27

Yeah.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 46:27

I don't, I don't want, know, anybody else to feel what, what I'm feeling right now.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 46:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's, it's really devastating, you know? Um, and especially as, as a father, right? Like, there's just a lot that, just as parents, right? We go through, right? And especially when you are in a partnered relationship, you wanna tag team, right? You wanna support each other. But I'm glad, Eddie, that you have people behind your back, right? That are literally helping you. And in raising these two boys, um, I'm sorry that the system, you know, broke your family. Um, it. You know, for a country that, again, cherishes families, and that is very highly resourced. Unfortunately, this is one thing that just, you know, it just needs to change. Like this one issue just needs to change because it literally is impacting so many families across the us and I'm so glad that this foundation was created to bring that awareness to educate people. Hopefully there can be a coalition of other organizations, um, researchers, medical providers, to, to support your foundation. Um, you know, and just to listen to people's stories. And like you said, Eddie, like for no one to ever experience this, like, you know, and not let this repeat itself, um, for someone else. And now that you are all raising, you know, Mika and Elijah. How has this foundation really connects, um, Fran CFrancilia's story, but also with helping them to honor their mom and, and to really, you know, be involved in this as they get older. I don't know if you have any goals or aspirations for them, but Yeah, like, I just want to, you know, I want people to know about how your boys are doing.

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 48:41

So, so everything that this foundation does, um, you know, it's shaped by what she would have wanted, um, for, for Micah and Elijah, um, and for other families, which is, which is, uh, support, um, safety and opportunity, you know, so, you know. You know, by helping families, children, educators, you know, we are honoring Francilia, um, Francilia's role, like as a, as a mother and the love for her sons, you know, with this foundation.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 49:16

Yeah. I don't know if you wanna share anything maybe, tips or, suggestions to any mom, expectant mom, like, I don't know if you wanna share anything else that we didn't talk about or that you feel like saying.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 49:33

I, having experienced pregnancy and really not knowing what to expect, um, I just encourage all women do your research. Um, just because you're pregnant, it doesn't mean it's a pregnancy symptom or a pregnancy sign. It, it could be something. And I think a lot about Francia. When she was pregnant, she never complained. Nothing was ever wrong just because she was so happy to be pregnant. She was grateful. But looking at, at everything, there were signs, right? She was swollen. clearly remember the last time I saw her. In February, we were visiting Yor Belinda. She was sitting down and she kept complaining that there was like a, an ache in her side. I told her, what is it? She's like, oh, the baby's probably kicking, but when you look deeper into it. It, it's one of the signs, right, of preeclampsia. Um, the biggest one I think was her being so swollen. My sister was, she was tiny, she was little, but she was swollen but she would say, the doctors say it's fine. They're not concerned. So I think really just educating ourselves when we're planning on getting pregnant or being pregnant, what is normal and what is not

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 50:48

Mm-hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 50:48

Christina said it, anything that's not our normal baseline is concerning. And, um, gosh, just be, be, pregnancy is beautiful. We don't want people to be scared to become pregnant or be

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 51:02

Mm-hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 51:02

it, for many people, it's gonna be a beautiful experience. In our case, it, it started and then it ended as

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 51:12

Mm-hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 51:12

nightmare. But I just would really encourage women to educate themselves and don't just trust the professionals to tell them all or know it

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 51:20

Mm-hmm.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 51:20

We know our bodies best.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 51:22

Yeah.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 51:23

Yeah.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 51:23

Yeah. And there's. Always an opportunity to get a second opinion,

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 51:27

Mm-hmm.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 51:28

you know? And, and I feel like people get tied in with just like that one medical provider because maybe it's accessible or maybe because someone had their baby, they delivered their baby. And yeah. And every single story is different. Every single experience is unique. And if you know that something's off, then everyone has the freedom and ability to look for another, um, care provider. And, One of the things that you kind of mentioned, Jessica, was that, you know, pregnancy is beautiful and, and you know, like you said, it shouldn't be scary and everything, but. I also believe that on top of the medical system there's also this huge like aspect on like marketing and that they're just creating this sort of image of what pregnancy and child's birth and parenting should be.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 52:26

Mm-hmm.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 52:26

I feel like a lot of times people are invested a lot in the preparation for the baby.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 52:33

Mm-hmm.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 52:34

I don't wanna invalidate that, I obviously believe that. Babies are beautiful, right? Like, you know, obviously there's purpose in creating life and bringing someone here in this earth, but I feel like the attention lacks on the mother. Um, you know, a lot of families want a doula, for example, so that they can have that support. And unfortunately, it's very expensive to hire a doula. Like people just can't have that access. A lot of times. Families or mothers, wanna have like additional services like you mentioned, um, the acupuncture, you know, chiropractic care, like all of these things that can eventually help a mom like it's inaccessible unless you have the money and the resources and the capital. With you all creating this foundation, I really hope that it changes the narrative not to scare people that is the reality that many mothers are losing their lives just because there are this preconceived notions of like, well, my medical care provider is gonna take care of me. Or, well, the end goal is just to have a baby. But in reality, how are we really navigating this process?

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 53:50

Mm-hmm.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 53:51

and I really hope that through your voice, um, it helps kind of change that narrative and perspective about these women also matter, like these lives also matter. I hope that there is an opportunity for women to really be taken. Into consideration the society like seriously.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 54:11

Yeah, that's basically what we wanna do. Just like how we say, share the signs and hopefully it saves a life of the mother, uh, saves a life of an infant. Um. But just to, you know, sure that this is not somebody else's story.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 54:27

Yeah, yeah. Well, Can you share with my listeners and viewers how we can support, um, Francilia twice, uh, the Love Foundation and also how can people connect with you, follow you,

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 54:42

so, like Elisa said, like, um, it's either her or myself trying to help each other out with answering, um, the dms, um, that come through. Um, we do have a lot of little links. Um, like we have, we're selling shirts. Our shirts are like kind of what funds are foundation, so that's how we give like teachers baskets and buy all our stuff and to get merchandise to help, like with educational materials and stuff like that. But we have like Venmo, we have Zelle, um, we have Give Butter. Um, we, we do try to come up with different raffle aways, um, to do giveaways, um, back for the community. Um, we are hosting our first annual walk in honor of Francilia's birthday, but also it's, um, preeclampsia Awareness month in May. Um, so we have a lot of people that have coming together. For her, it's. super beautiful to see how many people are reaching out to be a part of this. So we're hoping to have a really great turnout. Um, but yeah, you can basically Instagram is it, and Elisa does the TikTok stuff, so I'm, I don't, I don't look at those messages. It's kind of confusing for me. I always tell her at least I opened a message by accident. So, um, but I just, I, you know, those are ways our email, um, everything's linked onto our Instagram though, like any information that's needed, but we would love to have anybody reach out to us to collaborate or, um, if they would love to donate. Yes, we are a nonprofit, so, um, e every fund that we get, we do try to pour it back and give it in ways that we can, whether it's to, um, the children, to teachers, to mothers, to however we can, to fund our, fund, our sources for the, um, educational materials and so, so on and so

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 56:26

Yeah.

jessica-bess_1_02-12-2026_180405 56:26

We're also so thankful for people, businesses that have donated things to us. Um, we've had people donate children, clothes, toys, classroom supplies, Starbucks merchandise. We'll take it all and we'll do something good with it.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 56:44

Yes.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 56:44

Oh, that's beautiful.

elisa-garcia_1_02-12-2026_180405 56:46

Yeah, I don't think my Tia mentioned our Instagram handle. It's at Elias twice. The Love and our TikTok is the same and our email's the same. Um, Francilia theLove@gmail.com. We're working on getting a website, but most of it that we post is on our Instagram. Um, that's where we reply the fastest. So if you guys could give us a follow a like dm, us, either myself or my Tia will um, get back to you.

jessica_1_02-12-2026_200424 57:11

I'll make sure to link all of the, information that you shared, especially that, post that you talked about, Elisa, the statistics. I think that's very impactful. Um, and that way people can follow you, connect with you, and just be a part of your journey. Because I, I love that you are honoring, Francilia and that you are just making an impact to the community so that that way the boys can really get to be closer to their mom in this capacity, and I love it. Um, so thank you all so much for being here. I know this is very heavy, especially for those listening and tuning in, but we have to be realistic and normalize this as well. I don't know who said it. I think it was you, Jessica, that. For most of you, it's gonna be a story, but this is your reality and let's avoid being someone else's reality as well. And it all starts by this, it all starts by, you know, having a conversation and creating this awareness. And I'm so glad that you, um, are doing this in honor of Francilia. So thank you all so much for being here.

christina-galindo_1_02-12-2026_180405 58:20

Now, thank

elisa-garcia_1_02-12-2026_180405 58:20

Thank you for

eddie_1_02-12-2026_180405 58:21

Thank you for having us. Appreciate it.