Postpartum

In May 2024, a few days after delivering my first child via C-section, I began to feel heavy-chested and winded after doing very little, like walking and showering. I had already been discharged as a patient, but my son was in the NICU, so we were staying across the hall in the hospital. I really…

I took oral birth control starting at age 18 until 33, when I got pregnant. I delivered twin boys by C- section in May 2024 and resumed taking the same birth control shortly after. In September 2024, I noticed my left leg was swollen and began turning a dark red/purple color. I went to the hospital…

I gave birth to my daughter on March 15, 2022 via C-section. By April 9, I had developed debilitating pain in my right lower extremity, as well as a low-grade fever. I called my doctor, and she stated my pain was sciatica and the fever was not attributed to my recent surgery. My leg didn’t…

At the age of 20, two weeks after giving birth to my beautiful baby girl, I had extreme pain in my lower calf and could barely move. It was swollen, red, and hot to the touch, and heavy. I was frightened! I went to the hospital, where I was diagnosed with a DVT and hospitalized…

Two weeks after giving birth to our second son, I got out of bed and noticed my leg was hurting, and I was barely able to put weight on it. I went about my day as normal, but I started to feel heavy and tired. When I sat down and put my feet up, I…

I had my first child in 1989 by C-section. Four weeks later, my left leg was hurting so badly that I could hardly walk. I went to the hospital and was told I had a blood clot in my left leg (DVT) and had to stay in the hospital for one month. This was hard…

In September 2022, a couple of weeks after undergoing an emergency appendectomy, I was woken up by an intense pain in my knee. It lasted a few minutes and then I went back to sleep. A few days later, the pain came back and spread to my thigh, and I could not put weight on…

When I gave birth to my son, I was so excited to be a parent. But I began having headaches that were not normal. In the hospital, I was given medication to clot my blood because of slightly more than average blood loss. I was also given extra blood pressure checks because my blood pressure…

At five days postnatal, I started having pain in my right calf. I rang maternity at the hospital, who ran through the clot checklist: “Is it hot to touch? No. Is it red? No. Is it swollen? No.” Apart from the pain, there were no other symptoms. I was told to ring back if the…

In January 2024, I had an uncomplicated, five-hour labor on my due date. Immediately after handing my baby off, a nurse applied a standard procedure intervention known as controlled cord traction. I instantly felt sick and demanded she stop, but it was too late. My baby’s placenta was shredded and forcibly ripped out of my…