No one knows better about the importance of affordable healthcare than a person who has endured a traumatic experience. Serena Williams is one of those individuals and is now using her platform to advocate for an economic approach to medical care. The tennis star shares her life-changing pregnancy experience in an opinion piece for CNN.
“I am lucky to have survived,” Serena reveals. “First my c-section wound popped open due to the intense coughing I endured as a result of the embolism,” she explains. “I returned to surgery, where the doctors found a large hematoma, a swelling of clotted blood, in my abdomen.”
“And then I returned to the operating room for a procedure that prevents clots from traveling to my lungs,” she continues. “When I finally made it home to my family, I had to spend the first six weeks of motherhood in bed.”
The various proceedings caused Serena to be that much more grateful for the medical staff who helped her through the tough spots. “I am so grateful I had access to such an incredible medical team of doctors and nurses at a hospital with state-of-the-art equipment,” Williams writes. “They knew exactly how to handle this complicated turn of events,” she adds. “If it weren’t for their professional care, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Serena Williams’ traumatic experience has made her an advocate for more medical support for expectant women. “We know simple solutions exist, like access to midwives and functional health facilities, along with breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, clean water, basic drugs and good nutrition,” the tennis star shares. “Yet we are not doing our part. We are not rising to the challenge to help the women of the world.”
Read Serena Williams entire opinion piece here!
