Laura Santhanam Laura Santhanam. Generations of women have quietly endured the messy business of giving birth. They involuntarily pee when they sneeze or cough. It hurts to sit. They may feel consumed by anxiety or depression. Often, they feel too ashamed to ask for help, especially when they are laser-focused on trying to care for their brand-new baby. READ: The jobs market is slowly recovering, but not so much for women and women of color. The United States has some of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed countries and those statistics have worsened in recent years, particularly for women of color.
Those are the worst-case scenarios of bringing a child into the world β the nightmare stories that terrify soon-to-be parents. Many women surrender, thinking this is just how it goes when you have a baby. Erin Polnaszek Boyd delivered a healthy baby girl in , after a normal pregnancy. But four hours later, she suddenly became extremely dizzy, her ears rang and she felt as if she might faint.
Doctors realized Boyd had hemorrhaged during labor. That was the start of her troubles. Photo courtesy of Erin Polnaszek Boyd. Four hours later, Boyd, now 38, attempted to get out of bed. She suddenly became extremely dizzy, her ears rang and she felt as if she might faint. She lost so much blood, she required a transfusion. Postpartum hemorrhage, though rare β occurring in around 3 percent of deliveries β is a leading cause of maternal mortality in the U.
After the transfusion, Boyd was fatigued, her lower back hurt, and when she went to the bathroom, she passed massive blood clots, even a week later after she had been discharged from the hospital.
Two weeks after giving birth, Boyd said her breast milk did not seem to be coming, and she developed a mild fever. She went to urgent care, where it was determined that she had retained a large part of her placenta, which the body normally ejects after the baby is delivered. Retained placenta is a leading cause of postpartum hemorrhage. The urgent care staff removed the placenta, and almost immediately, Boyd felt relief. The experience left Boyd shaken in her faith in the maternal health care system.
