WARNING: Black People Are Three Times More Likely To Die In Childbirth, And Serena Williams’ Own Experience Gives A Stark Insight Into How This Happens
Serena told medical staffers that she needed a CAT scan and a heparin drip. A nurse told her, “I think all this medicine is making you talk crazy.”
In 2017, tennis champ Serena Williams gave birth to her daughter, Olympia, with her husband Alexis Ohanian by her side.
The star has been open about the life-threatening medical complications that she faced after childbirth, which forced her to have four back-to-back surgeries in the space of a week.
Serena suffered several blood clots that could have killed her if she did not receive immediate treatment, but she has now revealed that she had to advocate for herself after medical staffers dismissed her concerns.
In a new essay for Elle, Serena said that she was forced to save her own life as she drew attention to the fact that “Black women are nearly three times more likely to die during or after childbirth than their white counterparts” in the United States.
In the United Kingdom, Black women are more than four times as likely to die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related causes than white women
In her new piece, Serena said that giving birth ended up being “a test for how loud and how often I would have to call out before I was finally heard” as she shared concerning details from her time in the hospital.
She started by explaining that she’d had a “wonderful pregnancy” and that she was induced on Aug. 31, 2017. She even said that she actively enjoyed “the work of labor.”
“I loved feeling my body trying to push the baby out. I wasn’t on an epidural; to get through it, I was using my breath and all the techniques I’d learned from birth training,” she recalled.
However, when her labor went on into the next day, doctors decided that she should have a C-section as the baby’s heart rate was unstable.
“Being an athlete is so often about controlling your body, wielding its power, but it’s also about knowing when to surrender,” Serena wrote. “I was happy and relieved to let go; the energy in the room totally changed. We went from this intense, seemingly endless process to a clear plan for bringing this baby into the world.”
Olympia arrived safely — but not long after, Serena began to feel unwell. Having suffered a pulmonary embolism back in 2010, she knew that she should be on a heparin drip as she is at high risk for blood clots.
Olympia arrived safely — but not long after, Serena began to feel unwell. Having suffered a pulmonary embolism back in 2010, she knew that she should be on a heparin drip as she is at high risk for blood clots.
“So much of what happened after that is still a blur,” Serena explained. “I may have passed out a few times. In my haze, I wondered if I should ask someone about my drip. In 2010, I learned I had blood clots in my lungs — clots that, had they not been caught in time, could have killed me.”
“Ever since then, I’ve lived in fear of them returning. It wasn’t a one-off; I’m at high risk for blood clots. I asked a nurse, ‘When do I start my heparin drip? Shouldn’t I be on that now?’ The response was, ‘Well, we don’t really know if that’s what you need to be on right now.’ No one was really listening to what I was saying,” she added.
