Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: Health, Mental Health
Kiesha Dosanjh
A woman has opened up about the chilling moment she thought she was about to die after seeing black shadows whilst in labor.
Casey Gould had stopped trying for a baby after three miscarriages and failed infertility treatments. However, just a month after herself and her husband decided to stop trying, Casey fell pregnant.
Casey, who was expecting a baby boy, said her pregnancy was pretty easy. So much so, that she wasn’t afraid of going into labor. In fact, she was just excited to meet her son.
However, things took a turn on November 1, 2024, when the 33-year-old went into labor which lasted 36 hours.
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Speaking to CBS News, Casey said 'everything kind of felt wrong', despite her vitals looking fine.
“I was telling myself not to freak out, and then right behind the doctor, as she walked by, I saw, like, a black shadow,” she told the publication. Although Casey found it hard to explain, she said that black shadows were 'enveloping' the corner of the room.
Things got so bad for the 33-year-old that she grabbed a doctor and nurse, telling them both: “Something's wrong. I think I'm about to die.”
Unfortunately, Casey’s instincts were right, and just moments later, she was rushed for an emergency c-section, as her son’s heart rate had dropped off.
Soon after, Casey’s heart was also failing. Doctors gave her an Impella pump, and she spent the next two days in a coma in ICU.
The mom of one had experienced Peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare type of heart muscle disease which occurs during the last part of, or in the first few months after, pregnancy, as per Cardiomyopathy UK. It causes the heart to become weakened and enlarged, and also less able to pump blood.
After spending nine days in ICU, Casey told CBS it 'was the most traumatic night of a lot of people's lives'.
Fortunately, Casey and her baby boy are now both doing well, which she says is 'pretty miraculous'.
The disease is said to affect around 1 in 5000 women’s pregnancies, and a number of well known faces have spoken about their experiences with the disease.
Lisa Schwartz, a voice actress and content creator, suffered from the disease after giving birth to her baby girl.
Schwartz believed she was suffering normal fatigue after giving birth, only to find out later what was really happening.
"No one warned me. Now, I speak so another mother never has to say, 'I didn’t know,’” she told LetsTalk PPCM.
Now, Schwartz brings awareness to the condition, opening up about the warning signs to hopefully help others who may experience the same.