Serena Williams Says She Is ‘Lucky to Have Survived’ Giving Birth
Serena Williams appeared on the cover of the February 2018 issue of *Vogue with her new daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., born this past September. In that issue, Williams discussed the complications of her birth. Now, the tennis star is raising her voice again about her birth experience to bring attention to a serious problem around the world.
"I almost died after giving birth to my daughter, Olympia," she wrote in a new essay for CNN. "Yet I consider myself fortunate. While I had a pretty easy pregnancy, my daughter was born by emergency C-section after her heart rate dropped dramatically during contractions." The surgery was performed successfully, but Williams later suffered a pulmonary embolism, which occurs when a blood clot makes its way to the lungs, a condition that Williams has experienced before.
Williams writes, "This sparked a slew of health complications that I am lucky to have survived." She then detailed the health complications that ensued from the pulmonary embolism: Her C-section wound "popped open," and doctors found a large hematoma (a swelling of clotted blood) in her abdomen, prompting Williams to undergo multiple surgeries—not to mention, she had to spend her first six weeks of motherhood in bed.
In the essay, Williams expresses her gratitude for the doctors and nurses who got her through a terrifying week post-childbirth. But she also points out that many people around the world don't have access to the kind of care she received.
"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, black women in the United States are over three times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes," she wrote. "When they have complications like mine, there are often no drugs, health facilities, or doctors to save them. If they don't want to give birth at home, they have to travel great distances at the height of pregnancy."
Williams also goes on to lay out some troubling statistics in order to advocate for moms and their newborn babies. She writes, "According to UNICEF, each year, 2.6 million newborns die, tragically before their lives even really get started. Over 80% die from preventable causes. We know simple solutions exist, like access to midwives and functional health facilities, along with breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, clean water, basic drugs, and good nutrition. Yet we are not doing our part. We are not rising to the challenge to help the women of the world."
Read Williams's powerful essay in its entirety here.
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