The Serena Williams, women’s champion of the Aus Open 2017 (which she won while three months pregnant) has just penned an incredibly moving essay for CNN on the serious health complications she faced after giving birth to Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., last September.
Mum calls the lil’ babe/ future tennis champ/website tycoon, Olympia for short so we will too.
Because giving birth to a human being isn’t terrifying enough, Serena battled multiple health issues post-pregnancy that had her spending the first six weeks of motherhood bed-ridden as she recovered.
According to Serena, the actual pregnancy process was “pretty easy“. Olympia was born via an emergency c-section after “her heart rate dropped dramatically during contractions”. But the surgery ran smoothly and soon enough, Serena had lil’ Olympia in her arms.
Fast forward just 24 hrs and Serena developed a pulmonary embolism (a condition where your arteries become blocked by blood clots) which set off a chain reaction of other complications.
“I am lucky to have survived. First my C-section wound popped open due to the intense coughing I endured as a result of the embolism. I returned to surgery, where the doctors found a large hematoma, a swelling of clotted blood, in my abdomen. And then I returned to the operating room for a procedure that prevents clots from travelling to my lungs.”
Serena credits her survival to the incredible team of doctors and nurses, but points out that not every woman has the same level of care available to them.
Having already shared some details of her post-birth health battles in her VOGUE interview earlier this year, Serena chose to write this essay not just to share her own experience, but to highlight how “black women in the United States are over three times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes.”
And the statistics are even worse for women around the world.
“In Malawi, Mary James walked hours to reach the closest health centre while she was in labor. Exhausted, she made it to the facility and gave birth, only to lose her child later that day. She picked a name for him, but he never opened his eyes. He never cried. She kept the name to herself. Sadly, Mary’s nameless son was not the only one. That same day, approximately 2,600 babies died on their first day of life.”
A UNICEF goodwill ambassador, Serena wants us to think about all the mothers out there who don’t have her access to medical teams and state-of-the-art equipment and the people trying to change that.
Bottom line – all women deserve doctors, nurses, and midwives with adequate training and clean functional health facilities. They just do, so get supportin’ by donating to UNICEF HERE.
And ICYMI: Serena is already back on court, playing in international tournaments.
