In the cover story for the new issue of Vogue, tennis star Serena Williams revealed “everything went bad” both during and after her emergency C-section delivery of her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. She recounted how she found herself short of breath, thought it might be a clot based on her medical history, and had to advocate for herself to finally get the CT test and blood thinner she believed she needed. Her suspicions were quickly confirmed as a pulmonary embolism was discovered and removed. After that scare, over the next few days the clots made her cough so much that her C-section stitches broke open and the blood thinner she was taking caused hemorrhaging at the C-section site, causing a large hematoma to flood her abdomen. That’s some scary stuff for anyone—greatest athlete of our time or not—to go through.
Williams is now opening up about the experience even further, posting an extremely personal Facebook post (complete with a new, adorable video of Olympia) yesterday.”I didn’t expect that sharing our family’s story of Olympia’s birth and all of complications after giving birth would start such an outpouring of discussion from women — especially black women — who have faced similar complications and women whose problems go unaddressed.” She goes on to say that, per the CDC, black women are more than three times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications than white women. (According to the CDC, between 2011 and 2013, the pregnancy/mortality ratios were 12.7 deaths per 100,000 live births for white women and 43.5 deaths per 100,000 live births for black women.)
“We have a lot of work to do as a nation and I hope my story can inspire a conversation that gets us to close this gap,” Williams wrote. To be sure, her story already has inspired women to come forward, which you can see just in the comments on her post so far. One woman named Chaunta Stevens wrote: “During my first pregnancy I developed toxemia and preeclampsia. I was in my 31st week of pregnancy with extreme swelling in my hands, legs and feet. I told my OB during my visit that I didn’t feel well and that the swelling was getting worse. She reassured me that that was normal, nothing to worry about and sent me home,” she said. “The next day my husband took me to the ER and I was immediately admitted due stroke-range high blood pressure and high protein in my urine. I was transferred for a emergency C-section due to placenta detachment. My daughter was born 9 weeks early at 2 lbs 4 oz.” Stories like these remind us how important it is to advocate for yourself in every patient-doctor situation, and Williams’ post spreads even more awareness.
Perhaps Williams said it best herself: “Let me be clear: EVERY mother, regardless of race, or background deserves to have a healthy pregnancy and childbirth. I personally want all women of all colors to have the best experience they can have. We can help others. Our voices are our power.”
You can read Williams full Facebook post below: