Woman Who Disappeared Hours Before C-Section Is No Longer Pregnant

Elise Solé
Updated
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Carrie Bradshaw-Crowther (pictured), disappeared hours before her scheduled C-section and was missing for a week. She was found alive on Monday – and on Tuesday her brother announced she was no longer pregnant. (Photo: YouTube)

A pregnant woman in North Carolina who went missing mere hours before her scheduled C-section has been found after a week-long search – and her brother has announced that she’s no longer expecting.

Carrie Bradshaw-Crowther (yes, that’s really her name) vanished on June 2, after telling daughter Laura Lusk to fill the car with gas before the pair drove to the hospital where Bradshaw-Crowther was scheduled for a cesarean birth. The pregnancy was high-risk — Bradshaw-Crowther suffers from a dangerous genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), which can cause burst blood vessels or organs. According to local news station WSOCTV, when Lusk returned to the Salisbury home less than 10 minutes later, her 49-year-old mom was gone and so was her car. Bradshaw-Crowther had left behind her makeup and purse but took her wallet and cell phone. “It’s not like her,” Lusk told NBC News. “She likes to keep up her appearance.”

STORY: Overcoming Crippling Postpartum Depression: One Mom’s ‘Horror’ Story

No one, including the baby’s father, had heard from Bradshaw-Crowther, but she was found on Monday at a Boone gas station after using her ATM card at a local CVS.

On Tuesday, Carrie’s brother, Drew, posted a lengthy update to his Facebook page about Bradshaw-Crowther’s health.

“While it is unfortunate, we no longer expect a new addition to our family and ask for your continued prayers,” he wrote, adding that the family wouldn’t reveal more details: “We respect the HIPPA laws and we feel that releasing any more information should be in Carrie’s discretion after she has the opportunity to heal.”

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(Facebook)

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The police aren’t releasing any information about the mom — including whether the disappearance was related to the pregnancy  – but the case raises questions about whether pregnancy-related depression played a role. Another possible reason: A fear of an impending C-section — it’s a relatively safe procedure, but for women like Bradshaw-Crowther who suffer from vascular problems, it carries an increased risk of blood clots.

Perinatal depression is a series of mood disorders that can affect a woman during or after pregnancy. This umbrella term includes postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, and prenatal depression, the latter of which occurs during pregnancy, and affects close to 20 percent of women, according to the New York State Department of Health. Common symptoms include crying, exhaustion, sleep difficulty, anxiety, and lack of attachment to one’s baby.

For many women, expecting a baby is a time to celebrate— people tend to fawn over your growing bump, you’re feted with attention and gifts, and planning for the future can be exciting. But for those who suffer from depression, pregnancy complications, extreme hormonal swings, or those who experience traumatic emotional events, expecting a baby (even if it’s a desired pregnancy), can be a stressful event.

In Bradshaw-Crowther’s case, EDS made her pregnancy more than high-risk —it was potentially fatal. “She cannot give natural birth, and that’s why our family is so worried,” Lusk told WSOCTV. “Because if she does go into labor she won’t make it.” Since the mom was full-term, it’s possible that she was feeling anxious about her own mortality and the health of her baby. Studies have also found a link between EDS and depression.

There’s also the issue of advanced maternal age – Bradshaw-Crowther is 49, so even without suffering from EDS, her pregnancy may have resulted in birth defects, miscarriage, or stillbirth, among other outcomes. And finally, the mom was scheduled for a C-section — fear of surgical complications may have added to her stress.

“Pregnancy is one of the happiest and most stressful times in a woman’s life,” Hal Lawrence, executive vice president and CEO of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), tells Yahoo Parenting. “And for women who struggled with depression prior to pregnancy, carrying a baby can worsen their symptoms.”

Although Lawrence has not treated Bradshaw-Crowther, he surmises that the mom may have hid any feelings of depression from loved ones until the stress of her secret triggered her disappearance. “There is a limit to what people can deal with,” he says.

A similar case occurred in 2013, per a recent article published in the New York Times. A 37-year-old woman named Mary, a beloved teacher in Oregon described by her coworkers as wacky and funny, had a history of depression, which she treated with therapy and medication. According to the story, “Colleagues said that her moods never impinged on her work; in fact, few of them knew what she was dealing with.” When Mary became pregnant, she declined medication for five months and withdrew emotionally. Eventually Mary committed suicide when she was 6 and a half months pregnant by jumping from the 16th floor of the building her parents lived in.

“Giving these women medication such as serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) does present a slight risk, but if left untreated, depression could worsen and even lead to suicide,” says Lawrence. “Everything in life requires balancing risk and benefit. In some cases, the risk to the baby is low but the benefit to the mother is high.”

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