Mom's labor turns into fight for life after 1 symptom: "I think I'm about to die"
Summary
Casey Gould experienced a rare heart condition called peripartum cardiomyopathy after giving birth, which caused her heart to fail suddenly. She underwent an emergency C-section and heart treatment, including the use of a pump device, and spent days in intensive care before beginning to recover.Key Facts
- Casey Gould had struggled with infertility and miscarriages before becoming pregnant in early 2024.
- Her pregnancy went smoothly with some swelling near the end, and she went into labor on November 1, 2024.
- After 36 hours of labor, Gould felt something was wrong and expressed she thought she was about to die.
- Her baby's heart rate dropped, and she had an emergency C-section; doctors found her heart was failing with an ejection fraction of 13% (normal is 55-70%).
- Doctors used an Impella pump, inserted through an artery, to help her heart rest and avoid immediate transplant.
- Gould was sedated, on a ventilator, and in a coma for two days before waking up and learning about her heart failure.
- The condition she had, peripartum cardiomyopathy, is rare, affecting about 1 in 5,000 pregnancies and is hard to predict.
- Risk factors include socioeconomic challenges, older maternal age, and previous pregnancies, but warning signs can be subtle.
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