Serena Williams and the realities of the 'maternal mortality crisis'

The tennis superstar revealed her own health scare after having her first child, and is highlighting how US childbirth deaths disproportionately affect black women

“I almost died after giving birth to my daughter, Olympia. Yet I consider myself fortunate.” So began a call-to-arms by Serena Williams, in which the 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion revealed the extent of complications around the birth of her daughter last year, and drew attention to the startling disparity in maternal death numbers between white and black mothers in the US.

In an article for CNN, the 36-year-old explained how her difficulties began after coughing caused by an embolism prompted her caesarean scar to rupture. While in theatre, doctors found a large haematoma in her abdomen, which they prevented from travelling to her lungs.

Continue reading... February 21, 2018 at 09:39PM