Serena's life threatening experience having her baby

[clayqueen]

Serena Williams reveals she had an emergency c-section with baby Alexis Olympia which led to life-threatening health scare and multiple surgeries after she developed blood clots in her lung

• Serena Williams covers the February issue of Vogue with daughter Alexis Olympia, where she reveals she gave birth via emergency c-section
• The day after she gave birth, Williams told staff that she was concerned that she had developed blood clots, and a scan found several in her lungs
• She was given a drip with an anticoagulant medication, having gone off those drugs just before giving birth to Alexis
• Her c-section scar then opened from the coughing caused by her pulmonary embolism and her abdomen filled with her recently-thinned blood
• A filter had to then be inserted in a major vein to keep blood clots from travelling to her lungs and she was put on bed rest for the next six weeks
• Alexis Olympia is the youngest person to cover Vogue in the magazine's history, and her mom Serena said she will try to give her a normal, tennis-free life
• 'Personally I’d like to see her get into politics. Why not run for president?' said Serena's friend Billie Jean King of her post-tennis life

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-cover-emergency-c-section.html#ixzz53sAce4gx

 

[Sentinel]

The day after she gave birth, Williams told staff that she was concerned that she had developed blood clots, and a scan found several in her lungs

How did she know she had clots ?

 

[clayqueen]

How did she know she had clots ?

She's had them before so she knows what it feels like.
Serena Williams Hospitalized After Pulmonary Embolism

• By KATIE MOISSE
• ABC NEWS MEDICAL UNIT
  

March 2, 2011

ABCNEWS.com


Tennis player Serena Williams was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital Monday to undergo emergency treatment for complications from an earlier pulmonary embolism -- a blockage in an artery of her lung.

"Thankfully everything was caught in time. With continued doctor visits to monitor her situation, she is recuperating at home under strict medical supervision," Nicole Chabot, Williams' publicist, said in a statement.

A pulmonary embolism is a clot that lodges in the lung but originated elsewhere in the body. The most common source of the clot is deep vein thrombosis in the leg.

If left untreated, the mortality rate is roughly 30 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellne...italized-pulmonary-embolism/story?id=13036965

 

[Sentinel]

Oh no ! This is the second time

Hope they can find the underlying cause.

 

[Vanhool]

Oh no ! This is the second time

Hope they can find the underlying cause.

I was looking at medical sites and saw that pregnancy can cause them. But also she had discontinued use of her blood thinners prior to her delivery, so I guess that means she usually has to take them preemptively. Hopefully, with her preventative regimen, she wil be fine in the future.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Crazy that she's gone though all that

 

[boredone3456]

Thank Goodness both she and the baby are alright.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

Scary. Glad she is OK.

 

[Gytha]

I was looking at medical sites and saw that pregnancy can cause them. But also she had discontinued use of her blood thinners prior to her delivery, so I guess that means she usually has to take them preemptively. Hopefully, with her preventative regimen, she wil be fine in the future.

Yes all pregnant women are at higher risk of blood clots. Women at higher risk of PE/DVT (and having one previously is as high risk as you can get!) usually take prophylactic anti coag injections daily throughout the whole pregnancy. They're usually stopped just prior to delivery to reduce the risk of post partum haemorrhage then started again soon after for some weeks after birth at least. (Source- am a midwife but in the UK so procedure might differ slightly).

Glad she's OK. PE/DVT is one of the leading causes of maternal death here, though thankfully still rare due to screening and treatment, but can become serious very quickly.