Serena Williams Opens Up About Her Near Death Experience After Giving Birth
In a new opinion piece on CNN.com, Serena Williams recalled her near death experience after giving birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.
As previously reported, the first-time mom opened up about her medical scare following her baby girl's arrival. Williams revealed that she suffered from a pulmonary embolism six days after welcoming her daughter.
The embolism caused her to have emergency surgery to remove an abdominal hematoma caused by a blood thinner she had taken for clots. The incident led Williams to have another surgery to prevent the clots from traveling to her lungs.
Although the procedure was successful, Williams spent the first six weeks of motherhood in bed.
Serena Inspires Other Women
Six months after what Williams calls a "life-threatening experience," she has stated that her daughter has inspired her to speak about the importance of affordable health care.
In the article, the athlete also quoted statistics from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Williams noted that African-American women in the United States are three times more likely to die from pregnancy or child-birth related causes. She further explained that those numbers are worse around the world.
"Before they even bring a new life into this world, the cards are already stacked against them," the tennis champion said.
The 23 time grand slam singles champion has also asked her fans to donate to organizations such as UNICEF, (The United Nations Children's Fund) as well as other organizations and continue to demand that governments and health care providers do more to save the lives of mothers and children.
"Every mother, everywhere, regardless of race or background deserves to have a healthy pregnancy and birth. And you can make this a reality." Williams remarked.
Williams Welcomes Her First Child
In April 2017, the new mom took to Snapchat to share a photo of herself sideways with the caption, "20 weeks." Five months later in September 2017, she welcomed her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., with her husband and Reddit founder, Alexis Ohanian.
The two announced their engagement in December 2016, but did not tie the knot until Nov. 16, 2017.
