Take Care of Maya on Netflix: Release date, air time, what to expect, and more

The highly anticipated Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya is scheduled to be released on June 19, 2023, at 3 am ET. Take Care of Maya has an approximate run time of 2 hours and will be based on the story of Maya Kowalski, a nine-year-old girl who was admitted to John Hopkins All Children's Hospital because she was experiencing a severe stomach ache.

However, as the days passed by and Maya's condition worsened, the medical team uncovered other shocking secrets.

The official synopsis of Take Care of Maya, as per Netflix, reads:

“When nine-year-old Maya Kowalski was admitted to John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in 2016, nothing could have prepared her or her family for what they were about to go through. As the medical team tried to understand her rare illness, they began to question the basic truths that bound the Kowalskis together."

It continues:

"Suddenly, Maya was in state custody – despite two parents who were desperate to bring their daughter home. The story of the Kowalski family – as told in their own words – will change the way you look at children’s healthcare forever.”

Take Care of Maya will first premiere at the Tribeca film festival in New York on June 18, 2023. It is directed by notable director Henry Roosevelt, who is most famously known for his award-winning film, The Social Network.

Take Care of Maya is produced by Story Syndicate, a production house that has previously released numerous documentaries, including Harry & Meghan, I Am Vanessa Guillen, and Eat the Rich: The Gamestop Saga.

Take Care of Maya is told from the viewpoint of the Kowalksi family

In Netflix's officially released clip of Take Care of Maya, Beata Kowalski can be seen having a heartbreaking conversation with her advocate. While Beata repeatedly asks for a chance to see her daughter, the advocate retorts that the medical and judicial system in these cases simply "don't care" and that she should abide by whatever they say.

Beata asks her advocate if she's just supposed to leave her daughter's condition to deteriorate, to which the advocate replies:

"Well, what other options do you have? Either she suffers now for a little while and eventually, you get her back, or she suffers forever and you never get her back."

Maya Kowalski revealed in her interview with People Magazine that Take Care of Maya will manage to encapsulate all the events that led to the unfortunate death of her mother. She added that at the time, when she was kept away from her mother, her health regressed under the care of the hospital's medical team and there was no action taken to prevent it.

The shocking story of Maya Kowalski

In 2015, Maya Kowalski, a nine-year-old girl, began experiencing asthma attacks and headaches. With no prior illnesses, her parents Jack and Beata Kowalski were left extremely concerned. Despite consulting numerous doctors about Maya's condition, there seemed to be no conclusive results that could shed light on Maya's illness.

In an interview with People magazine, Maya's father, Jack Kowalski, recalled how doctors claimed that the illness was not real, and was "all in her head". However, he said that he knew that wasn't the case, adding:

“But Maya would be crying 24/7. We knew she wasn’t faking.”

At last, the family finally found the reason behind Maya's illness when Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, a pharmacologist, and anesthesiologist in Tampa, diagnosed Maya with a rare neurological condition known as CRPS. Jack explained the rare condition in his interview with People:

"CRPS is an abnormal function of the sympathetic nervous system. Over time, your senses get ramped up so if a drop of water touches your skin, it can feel like somebody’s jabbing you with a knife.”

While Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick revealed to the parents that the condition was incurable, he suggested some methods through which it could be managed. One of these was a five-day ketamine coma, which would essentially cause a "reset" of the nervous system.

However, Jack revealed that the method was still under experimentation and was not approved by the FDA, so the family had to travel all the way to Mexico to get the procedure done as it was their "only hope".

Take Care of Maya will not only entail Maya's medical background, but will particularly throw emphasis on a tragic day in October of 2016 when the Kowalskis took the decision to admit Maya to John Hopkins All Children's Hospital when their daughter started experiencing severe stomach pain.

Beata Kowalski, Maya's mother, being a registered nurse herself, had pleaded with the medical staff to give Maya a ketamine dose as she revealed that Maya suffered from CRPS. However, that request reportedly raised concerns among the medical staff, who later alerted Child Protective Services.

The investigative team then proceeded to accuse Beata Kowalski of Munchausen Syndrome by proxy (MSP), a mental disorder where a caretaker of a child makes up fake illnesses to gain attention or make it appear that the child is injured or ill. Even though Beata was cleared of any mental illness through a court-ordered psych evaluation, she was not allowed to meet Maya due to her being taken into state custody.

In an interview with People magazine, Maya talks about being away from her mother and how that impacted her:

“One day I was in the ICU, and my mom kissed me on the forehead and was like, ‘I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ I never saw her again, I was medically kidnapped. I tried being hopeful, but there was a point where I thought, ‘I’m never getting out of this place.’"

The mother-daughter duo was kept apart for almost three months and when a judge denied Beata's plea to see her daughter, Jack Kowalski revealed that Beata was "inconsolable," as a result of which her health started "deteriorating".

Beata eventually died by suicide at the age of 47. In an email that was discovered after her death, she had written that she was "sorry," further adding:

“But I no longer can take the pain of being away from Maya and being treated like a criminal. I cannot watch my daughter suffer in pain and keep getting worse.”

Take Care of Maya will also include Maya's recent lawsuit battle against the hospital, which is scheduled for trial in September. She says that she wants her family to "move on" and that can only be done when she "finds justice for her mom".

Take Care of Maya will premiere on June 19, 2023, at 3 am ET on Netflix.

Edited by Upasya Bhowal