The worst possible start: symptom-dismissal among pregnant women

After struggling with infertility for several years, Sarah and Chris Kinling were finally successful after a round of IVF. At their 20-week ultrasound they found out they were having a girl—but also that Sarah had a shortened cervix, which increases the risk of preterm birth. She had to go on bedrest immediately.

After an unexpected Cesarean birth, Anna was born healthy at 40 weeks. But in the following hours Sarah experienced troubling symptoms, including a headache, nausea, double vision, and high blood pressure. “I kept saying I really don’t think this is normal, but none of it was concerning to them,” Sarah recalls. “They just said it was all a physical manifestation of my postpartum anxiety, and as soon as I was discharged that I should see a psychiatrist to get some medication to help with that.”

Sarah was discharged, and two days later she had a seizure at home. “Driving her to the hospital with a newborn baby, I was terrified because I didn’t know what was going to come next,” Chris says. “You’re tired, and you’re scared, and you don’t know who to turn to because the doctors that you relied on to take care of you completely let you down.”

Instead of bonding with her new baby, Sarah spent the next three days in the hospital under observation for what she would later learn was eclampsia—"postpartum preeclampsia that progressed to eclampsia because it was untreated and led to seizures,” she says. The experience of being dismissed by doctors, coupled with learning more about the maternal mortality crisis in the U.S., Sarah and Chris decided it was too risky to have more children.

But the universe had other plans, and five months later Sarah and Chris were surprised that they were expecting another baby. Once again, Sarah had a shortened cervix and needed to go on bedrest. “It was rough because now, not only am I limited to being in the bed the majority of my day, but I couldn't pick up my daughter,” she says. “She was starting to crawl—I couldn't crawl after her, couldn't pick her up when she was crying or, or get her out of the crib.”

With a different provider at a different hospital, who was aware of Sarah’s recent postpartum experience, the couple initially felt comforted—but then were shocked when Sarah’s symptoms were again dismissed after the birth of their son, Casey. “On day five, the day I was going to be discharged, I woke up with a terrible headache, the same worst headache of your life feeling that I had after my first pregnancy,” Sarah recalls. “And I immediately knew something wasn't right.” But instead of checking her out, they ordered her a psych evaluation.

Sarah couldn’t believe it. “I was like…it's happening all over again,” she says. “And if I appear that I'm not in my right mind, it's because I'm absolutely livid that no one is listening to me. That I know my body better than the doctors do. And if I think something is wrong that needs a second look, that doesn't need a psych evaluation.”

Sarah’s pleas to the medical staff were once again ignored, and she was discharged.

“I remember just breaking down into tears, and I was like, ‘I'm going to die if you send me home.’”

Upon returning home, Sarah took a nap for about three hours. “I remember sitting up and feeling like I had a weight on my chest, like something was keeping me laying down,” she says, “And then I remember breathing in, it was like I couldn't get air.” Terrified, Chris packed everybody up in the car—the two newborns in the back seat —and drove to the hospital that they had just been sent home from.

“We were in the emergency room for about four or five hours until I was brought back,” Sarah says. “And then I learned I was in congestive heart failure—because my symptoms were dismissed and I progressed to congestive heart failure due to untreated preeclampsia. And there's lasting effects to that.”

Sarah’s experience is what’s called a near-miss: obstetric cases where moms ultimately survive after experiencing life-threatening, life-altering medical conditions during their pregnancy or childbirth. Sarah spent 10 days in the hospital and another month recovering. “Having to take care of her and the two kids, and just worrying about will she make it, I just felt awful and powerless,” says Chris.

Unfortunately, Sarah’s story is all too familiar. We’re experiencing a maternal and infant health crisis in the U.S., with over 800 women dying every year from pregnancy-related causes—just like the complications Sarah experienced. But their story also highlights our opportunity for impact. March of Dimes is working to ensure that pregnant women are heard and that their providers have the training and support to listen and engage, without bias or stigma.

Today the Kinling Family is thriving, despite the trauma that surrounds the happiest days of their lives.

SHORT VERSION

The worst possible start: symptom-dismissal among pregnant women

After struggling with infertility for several years, Sarah and Chris Kinling were finally successful after a round of IVF. They were thrilled to deliver a healthy baby girl. But shortly after delivery Sarah experienced troubling symptoms, including a headache, nausea, double vision, and high blood pressure. Doctors assured her this was normal, that it was just postpartum anxiety, and she was discharged.

Once home, Sarah had two seizures. Instead of bonding with her daughter, she spent the next three days and the following month recovering. The experience of being dismissed by doctors, coupled with learning more about the maternal mortality crisis in the U.S., Sarah and Chris decided it was too risky to have more children. But the universe had other plans, and five months later they found out they were expecting another baby.

After the birth of their son, Casey, the couple was shocked when Sarah’s symptoms were again dismissed, and her pleas ignored. She was sent home, where she soon experienced trouble breathing. It was only when her symptoms progressed to congestive heart failure that she was taken seriously.

Unfortunately, Sarah’s story is not unfamiliar. We’re experiencing a maternal and infant health crisis in the U.S., with over 800 women dying every year from pregnancy-related causes. March of Dimes is working to ensure that pregnant women are heard and that their providers have the training and support to listen and engage, without bias or stigma.

Today the Kinling Family is thriving, despite the trauma that surrounds the happiest days of their lives.