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Women's Health

Three moms share how they survived pregnancy related heart failure and symptoms to look for

Black women are at a much higher risk for the rare condition and no one knows why.

Moms share their symptoms of pregnancy related heart failure.

While many view pregnancy as not only natural but a beautiful part of the human experience, it can be easy to forget that pregnancy can also be extremely dangerous. The body goes through many intense changes that can really take a heavy toll: everything from gaining an extra 15 to 30+ pounds and organs being rearranged to make room for a growing fetus, to your heart pumping an excess amount of blood throughout the body.

It can all take an immense toll on the body, which can sometimes lead to serious pregnancy related illnesses like preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, hyperemesis gravidarum, and heart failure. Upworthy spoke with three women during Black Maternal Health Week (April 11-17, 2025) who survived peripartum cardiomyopathy, better known as pregnancy related heart failure. Though the condition is extremely rare, Black women are at a much higher risk of experiencing it though researchers currently aren't sure why.

pregnancy, mothers, babies, black mothers, black maternal health weekDoctor checking on a pregnant woman. Photo credit: Canva

Tina Marsden, Tracey Young and Tiara Johnson all experienced pregnancy related heart failure during pregnancy or shortly after the birth of their second children. Given their unique experiences, they are all working to make sure other women know what symptoms to look for so they can be treated early to improve chances of survival.

Each of the women had symptoms that could've been brushed off as normal symptoms of pregnancy. In fact, Marsden's symptoms were initially dismissed. "Looking back, I experienced abnormal levels of fluid retention and shortness of breath during my last trimester," she said. "I was already on bedrest due to an incompetent cervix that caused me to start dilating at just 13 weeks into my pregnancy. Even still, my symptoms were considered normal for a high risk pregnancy, instead of being viewed as warning signs for my individual case."

pregnant woman, pregnancy, pregnancy health, black maternal health week, womenPregnant woman looks at a tablet while holding her belly. Photo credit: Canva

While both Young and Johnson's symptoms were marked by shortness of breath, Young nearly missed the warning sign, telling Upworthy, "Shortly after giving birth to my second child, Amber, I began experiencing shortness of breath. Initially, I attributed this to the physical demands of having just given birth and chose to overlook it. However, as the weeks progressed and the symptoms persisted, I started to wonder if I was developing asthma. I found it difficult to lie flat on my back, and even a brief shower left me feeling exhausted as if I had just run a marathon. After six weeks of these symptoms, I decided to schedule an appointment with my Primary Care Physician."

Johnson also initially dismissed the warning. Having a baby is taxing on the body, so it's unsurprising that some of the symptoms were attributed to recently giving birth. "I was out of breath doing small things like just walking from one room to another. At first, I chalked it up to having just had a baby, but deep down, I knew something wasn’t right. I felt nothing like I did with my first daughter and fatigue was beyond 'new mom tired.' My heart would race, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe both laying down and sitting up."

pregnant woman, black woman, black maternal health week, motherhood, doctor, Doctor examines a pregnant woman.Photo credit: Canva

One might think that recognizing the symptoms would be enough to get the care that is needed, but unfortunately that isn't always the case. Johnson had to visit the hospital multiple times just to get someone to listen to her, she explains to Upworthy: "Yes, I had a lot of trouble. I went to the hospital multiple times before anyone really listened to me. I kept being told it was postpartum anxiety or just stress from being a new mom but it was heart failure. I needed a transplant from the start, but my heart was too weak and my BMI was too high to qualify. I had to fight for every ounce of care I got."

Marsden also found herself fighting to get the medical attention that she initially needed. "While I was under the care of a high risk ob/gyn I still felt like my concerns were not being heard. I encourage expecting mothers to seek a second opinion, and not allow their individual case to be dismissed as 'normal.' There's a thin line between normal symptoms and warning signs of pregnancy induced heart failure, which can have life-altering effects. It's been over two decades since my PPCM diagnosis; and thankfully my Abbott HeartMate II LVAD is helping me to sustain life."

pregnant woman, woman with child, kids, pregnant, pregnancy, pregnancy heart failure. Pregnant woman. Photo credit: Canva

The story of trying to convince medical professionals to take concerns seriously seems to be a common theme, but thankfully Young found a listening ear in her primary care physician. It was during her routine checkup that she mentioned her elevated blood pressure at her last OBGYN check up, Young says the conversation ended there. "After my evaluation, my Primary Care Physician promptly responded to my medical needs by contacting 911, which led to my transportation to the hospital’s emergency room. The hospital cardiologist diagnosed me with Post-Partum Cardiomyopathy. The prognosis I was given was grim, as I was told I would not live to see my daughter turn five."

It was due to the women's determination to advocate for themselves that they're still here to tell their stories to shed light for other expectant moms. The biggest piece of advice all the women give is to listen to your body if something doesn't feel right.

pregnant woman, pregnancy, woman eating, woman with child, pregnant Pregnancy can be high risk for some. Photo credit: Canva

"If you feel unsure about your health or believe something might be wrong, please don’t hesitate to seek medical advice immediately. Having questions is normal, and being your advocate during this time is so important," Young says.

"My advice to expectant moms is not to be afraid or dismissive. Some moms hear stories from others and fear the worst, while others assume those cases are just 'rare' incidents. I encourage expectant moms to consider the experiences shared by advocates like myself as Awareness Tools. Expectant moms should discuss the various Awareness Tools they've come across with their healthcare team to devise a plan that best fits their family's needs," Marsden shares.

"To anyone who feels something is off—please don’t ignore it. Push for answers. Advocate for yourself and don’t stop until you get the care you deserve. You don’t have to be a doctor to know something’s wrong in your body. Never be afraid to get a second opinion," Johnson adds.

pregnancy, pregnant woman, ultrasound, pregnancy health, maternal healthcareWoman receiving an ultrasound. Photo credit: Canva

Each of these women have become advocates so no other mom has to go through what they have without being armed with knowledge. They were all helped by ABBOTT heart devices that gave their doctors real-time readings of what their hearts were doing. Though, Johnson ultimately ended up getting a heart transplant, she credits her ABBOTT devices with giving her the life she thought she'd lose back to her.

"Receiving a diagnosis of heart failure doesn’t signify the end; instead, it opens the door to a new way of living life. Thanks to numerous medical advancements, people with heart failure can achieve a fulfilling life," reveals Young.

Family

One couple's perfect response to people asking when they're going to have kids

Choosing to have kids or not have kids is no one else's decision but yours.

Photo via Carrie Jensen/Imgur, used with permission.

She’s giving birth to a puppy.


"When are you guys going to start having kids?"

Like many couples, Carrie Jansen and her husband Nic had heard this question a million different ways, a million different times.

The pressure really started to mount when the pair, who've been together for eight years, got married three years ago. While Carrie loves kids (she's an elementary school teacher, after all), she and Nic simply aren't interested in having kids of their own. Now or ever.

"It's not what I was meant for," explains Carrie in a Facebook message. "It's like, I love flowers, and everyone loves flowers. But that doesn't mean I want to grow my own. I'm perfectly happy admiring other people's gardens."

Carrie wanted to tell her family that they don't plan on having kids but knew if she did, they'd say something like, "Oh you'll change your mind one day!" and that pesky question would keep rearing its ugly head.

marriage, adults, children, social pressure, pregnancy

Dressed to the nines on their wedding day.

Photo via Carrie Jansen, used with permission.

Rather than continue to deflect the question over and over, Carrie decided to do something a little bit different.

Since the couple was adding another mouth to feed to the family, they decided to announce it with a series of maternity-style photos, revealing the twist: The new addition was a puppy named Leelu, not a baby.

pets, viral, moms, dads, maternity, babies

Look at my newborn baby... puppy.

Photo via Carrie Jensen/Imgur, used with permission.

"My husband and I have been married 3 years and everyone is bugging us about having a baby. Close enough right?" she captioned the photos.

Her pictures went insanely viral, with many of the commenters giving her props for hilariously addressing the dreaded "kids " question.

kids, choices, population, survey

The adorable pup.

Photo via Carrie Jansen, used with permission.

"If you don't want kids, don't have kids. Seriously. Have fun with each other. I had three kids early and it's all about them now," wrote one user. "I wish people would just mind their business raising a kid ain't easy and cheap," wrote another.

"I got my husband a vasectomy for his birthday this year. Best gift ever," chimed in a third.

Carrie was overwhelmed and inspired by the viral response. "Having children is definitely a hot topic, and one that is evolving in this generation like so many other social issues," she says. "It's exciting to find others that feel the same way I do.”

Carrie is hardly alone in not wanting to have kids — in fact, a record number of women are choosing not to have kids today.

In 2014, the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey found 47.6% of women between age 15 and 44 had never had children, which is the highest percentage on record. Despite the numbers, however, because we still live in a patriarchally-driven society, women regularly face the expectation that they should be mothers, and they often are judged if they decide not to be.

Whether you want to have one kid, five kids, no kids, or a puppy, the choice should be yours and no one else's.

holidays, gifts, woman\u2019s rights, gender equality,

The holiday photo in front of the Christmas tree.

Photo via Carrie Jansen, used with permission.

No one else has the right to put pressure on you to change your body and life in a drastic way. Thankfully, because of women like Carrie — and partners like Nic — who aren't afraid to bring the subject out in the open, the expectations are slowly but surely changing.


This article originally appeared nine years ago.


Unsplash

They crashed into love, you could say.

If you think it's hard meeting people these days, maybe you're just not thinking outside of the box. Dating apps, speed dating, and blind set ups by friends are old news. If you want to make a stronger connection, maybe it's time you looked in some more unexpected places. Do you have a hot dentist? Fight through the numbness in your tongue and tell them how you feel. Ever swapped numbers with a political canvasser that came knocking on your door? At least you already know whether you agree on politics.

All kidding aside, it is tough to find love in 2025. But, as cliche as it sounds, you really do sometimes find it in the last place you'd ever expect.

A wild story out of China is proving that love can be found in the strangest of places.

A 36-year-old man named Li was in a hurry one day in late 2023. Reports say he was dealing with an emergency, which may have distracted him while driving. And then the worst happened. He struck a woman who was riding an electric bicycle, sending her hurtling to the ground injured. Li scrambled out of his car to check on the woman and apologize. Now he had two emergencies to deal with.

Her response, as she lay there in agony with what would later be determined to be a broken collar bone: "No worries."

gif of someone in a hospital bed saying "no worries"No worries!Giphy

Her kindness and forgiveness (and maybe a little bit of millennial people-pleasing) opened the door for the two to stay in touch after the accident. Li visited the woman in the hospital every day as she recovered, where they struck up a friendship. That friendship quickly turned into more. After just a few weeks, it was actually the woman—broken collarbone and all—who confessed her feelings to Li first. They had really hit it off during those visits. Li was hesitant due to their age gap and, well, the extreme weirdness of how they met, but eventually he gave it a chance, realizing it was kind of rude to turn her down for a date after hitting her with his car and putting her in the hospital.

Less than a year later, she was pregnant, and the couple just tied the knot in February of 2025, bringing their unbelievable love story full circle.

If it sounds like the plot of a movie, it kind of is. A similar premise is at the heart of the 2024 film We Live In Time with Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. Who says you can't find a Hollywood ending in real life?


The story was shared far and wide on social media where it raised a few eyebrows, and inspired more than a few jokes.

Clever Reddit users were quick to point out that Li may have taken the idea of "hitting on someone" a little too literally.

One user shared that Li's story was similar to one of her own: "This is similar to how my grandparents met. My grandfather was just in the US on vacation. on his way to go back to his country he got into a car accident. He stayed to make sure the woman in the other car was ok. The rest is history."

I think it gives people hope to hear these bizarre and unexpected love stories. The world has been different since COVID. In person connections with other people are more rare. And people are burnt out on dating apps, with usage dipping drastically over the last year or two. I can imagine it feels impossible to find someone if you've tried all the usual avenues and come up empty. So maybe you don't want to go out intentionally running over attractive pedestrians, but if we can take anything away from Li's story, it's that staying open-minded and optimistic can actually pay off sometimes when it comes to love. Congrats to the happy couple! Though, for safety reasons, it's probably best if Li lets his wife drive from now on.

Parenting

Husband says men should spend 9 months achieving peak physical condition before trying for a baby

Sperm health plays a huge role in pregnancy, and no one's talking about it.

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When a woman becomes pregnant, her whole life gets turned upside down. She can't drink alcohol or use THC or, in some cases, even have caffeinated coffee anymore. Her body changes size and shape rapidly. She'll feel exhausted and nauseous much of the time. And she has to eat enough food to feed an extra person, take vitamins every day, and be poked and prodded by her OB around 20-some odd times over the span of her pregnancy. It's a lot to go through, all to make sure the baby is as healthy as possible.

Dads, by comparison, get off pretty easy. After the whole conception part, their main job is just to support mom and make sure she has everything she needs. It can be a lot of late night Taco Bell runs, but otherwise, it's a pretty chill job until the baby arrives.

One husband recently went viral when he advocated for a more hands-on, and some say extreme, approach from dads well before they even start trying for a baby with their partner.

"Men should have to spend nine months getting in the best physical shape of their lives before having a baby," Hunter Leppard tells his wife Maya in a TikTok video.

He goes on to note that several elements of pregnancy, and potential complications, are tied to the father's sperm health.The science backs him up on most of this. Pre-eclampsia, for example, may be tied to faulty sperm. The father's sperm also play a role in the development of a healthy placenta that can deliver oxygen and nutrients to the developing baby. Who knew!

"So if you're going to spend nine months following all of these rules while building a baby inside of you, then I can spend the nine months prior to that not drinking alcohol, limiting caffeine. I'll get blood work, I'll have three healthy meals a day. I will be in the best physical shape of my life prior to you getting pregnant, for the betterment of you and your pregnancy and our baby. It's common sense."

Watch Hunter's full passionate plea here:


@maya.and.hunter

it’s common sense he fears

I have two kids and I don't think anyone has ever talked to me once about sperm health and how it affects pregnancy.

Why are we not having a bigger conversation about this? Why is the onus of maintaining a "healthy" pregnancy completely laid at women's feet? They have enough to deal with!

Commenters on the now viral video had the same thought:

"Why aren’t we TAUGHT THIS! It’s so obvious I should know but never heard it said until Tik Tok of all things!" one user wrote.

"Why is nobody talking about this?" asked another.

Some women chimed in to say that their own partners did this already, and they were grateful for it:

"My husband quit smoking, limited caffeine, and drank more water then also abstained during the entirety of my pregnancy, it's empathy, and compassion."

"Yes! 👏 Some men actually do the work. My husband lost 30lbs, and prioritized eating healthy and specific fruits to ensure I’d have a healthy pregnancy after we had a miscarriage before our daughter."

"My husband stopped smoking, drinking, and started eating really healthy before we started trying. My pregnancy has been pretty dang smooth!"

"My husband actually cut out caffeine, beer, and ate healthier in order for us to get pregnant this last time.. I’m now 4 months pregnant with the boy we’ve been wanting and my pregnancy is much easier than the first two!"

It's truly amazing that sperm health can impact "embryo development and implantation, the risk of miscarriage, the likelihood of pregnancy complications, birth weight and overall fetal health, and the inheritance of certain genetic mutations," according to a Yahoo Life article. And all it took for us to learn about it was a viral TikTok.


Giphy

Knowing, as GI Joe says, is half the battle. The other half is actually getting guys to follow through on this knowledge. Sadly, it's not a given that they will. Men are notoriously cranky about wearing condoms and, as a group, prefer women to be the ones responsible for birth control. There might be a male birth control pill one day, and surveys show guys would be up for it, but... we'll see. Likewise, pregnancy has always been viewed as something that women do and go through, so adjusting that programming could take a little work.

Hopefully we can get to the point where men taking a proactive approach to pre-pregnancy is a standard practice. And no, you don't need to spend nine whole months becoming an ultra-marathoner with chiseled abs. But regular exercise, reducing caffeine and alcohol, and eating a diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, will go a long way toward healthier sperm and a healthier pregnancy. That's not so bad, am I right guys?