This mom went viral on TikTok with her traumatic birth story

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Courtesy of Kayleigh Summers

Throughout Kayleigh Summers’ pregnancy with her son Callahan, the Philadelphia-based school clinician said she feared complications during childbirth. And although close friends and family tried to allay those fears, when the time came to welcome her baby, Summers’ nightmare would become a terrifying reality.

On that fateful day in July 2019, Summers was 10 centimeters dilated and, as she recounted in a previous blog post on her website, The Birth Trauma Mama, “ready to grow.” While waiting for her doctor, who had come out of the hospital room with the promise of a short return to give birth, Summers began to feel unwell. And while the nurse who was caring for Summers at the time said it was normal to generally feel unwell during this stage of labor, Summers knew something was wrong – in particular, she felt that ‘there was a problem with his heart. But as she began to scream that she knew something was wrong, the monitors by Summers’ bed began to shed light on what she was going through. Within moments, Summers collapsed in her hospital bed, “eyes open but nothing behind them,” she said in the blog.

Immediately, a nurse set off the code blue alarm, which usually signals that a patient is in cardiac arrest. Summers, who specifically suffered what’s called cardiopulmonary arrest, was quickly taken to an operating room, where CPR was initiated and doctors performed an emergency cesarean. Although Callahan was safely rescued six minutes later, Summers herself “was dying,” she explains. “They successfully resuscitated me after the cesarean, but I re-coded a few minutes later,” Summers shared on her website. “After the second resuscitation, I started to bleed and A LOT,” and went into a condition known as disseminated intravascular coagulation, a condition in which your blood stops clotting. Doctors had inserted a balloon into Summer’s uterus “to try and stem the bleeding from that spot,” she recalls. (Related: Cesarean Births Almost Doubled In Recent Years – Here’s Why It Matters)

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Courtesy of Kayleigh Summers

Summers did not know it at the time, but she had suffered from amniotic fluid embolism, an “acute and unexpected life-threatening birth complication that can affect both mother and baby,” according to the AFE Foundation. The disease is described as the rapid collapse of a mother and / or her child “as a result of an allergic-type reaction to the amniotic fluid (the fluid that surrounds the baby in the womb during pregnancy) entering the maternal circulatory system, “according to the Foundation.

While still in critical condition, Summers was “bleeding all over the place,” she said in her blog post. And, as a result, a massive transfusion was required, with a total of 143 units of blood products transfused at the end of the horrific ordeal. Summers also underwent a hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus), in order to stop the bleeding and ultimately save his life. Doctors were able to spare one of her ovaries.

Generally, AEF itself is considered to have two phases, the first being “rapid respiratory failure” which can lead to cardiac arrest. The second is the “hemorrhagic phase”, during which the mother bleeds at the site of the wound, “according to the AFE Foundation.

At the same time, Summers’ heart and lungs were not functioning at full capacity, prompting doctors to put her on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). This life-saving machine allows blood to be pumped out of the body “to a heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide and returns oxygen-filled blood to body tissues,” according to the Mayo Clinic . And while the ECMO machine kept Summers alive, the medics still struggled to get his heart to beat effectively again. They eventually determined that they would need to implant an Impella, which is a small device that allows the heart to rest and recover by temporarily helping the heart’s pumping function to supply both blood and blood. oxygen to the body, according to Abiomed, a medical company that specializes in circulatory support and oxygenation.

© Courtesy of Kayleigh Summers
“It’s not easy to reconcile being clinically dead when your child is born,” recalls Kayleigh Summers.

Fortunately, after two long days in the hospital, Summers’ health took a turn and she was able to be removed from the ECMO machine, according to her previous blog post. Yet it wasn’t until five days after the birth of her son that she found out what had happened to her.

“I remember [my ob-gyn] was at my bedside, holding my hand to the right of my head and my anesthesiologist was on my left side, near my hip, holding my hand, ”Summers wrote in his blog post. “I remember she told me I had EFA. I mostly remember holding it together and nodding thinking it finally made sense given where I was and all my hits and lines. Then she told me I needed a hysterectomy [and one was performed], and I started to cry, “also noting that four liters of blood had been found in her abdomen.

Summers was finally released from the hospital in late July. And although two years have passed since her terrifying experience with AFE, she says it will always be a part of her.

“It’s been a long journey to get to where I am today. It’s not easy to reconcile being clinically dead with the birth of your child,” Summers said. Form. “I am absolutely devastated by the way my baby was born, and yet I am so grateful for my healthcare team and the medical advancements that saved my life and allowed me to watch my son grow up.”

Summers – who has no longer had issues with her heart – has become a viral sensation since sharing her birth story online. His TikTok page has amassed over 4.7 likes and features videos of Summers detailing his near-death experience, while raising awareness about AEF. The Birth Trauma Mama website was also created in the hope of “helping other moms who have been through birth trauma or difficult postpartum journeys,” she explains. To highlight the commonality of traumatic births, Summers not only discusses her own journey on her Instagram account, but the poignant stories of other mothers as well.

“Jena and I decided to create this page as a safe space for moms to come together and share their difficult birth / postpartum experiences (and the good ones too!),” Summers wrote in a January 2020 Instagram post. Then she told me I needed a hysterectomy and I started to cry. “We hope to share education, ideas and personal experiences regarding birth trauma and the effects it can have on postpartum mental health.” (Read more: Mental health issues related to pregnancy and postpartum that no one is talking about)

Summers’ post continued, “As beautiful as becoming a mother is, it can also be crippling at times. Going through trauma during what should be one of the best days of a mom’s life only makes that worse. would like to connect with other moms and talk more about these topics that are so important to us. “⁣

Followers of Summers also praised her for being so open about her spooky experience. “Thanks for that,” one follower commented in a recent Instagram post. “Your account gave me the impetus to start working on my own birth experience when I didn’t want to face it. I have a lot of work to do, but I’m so grateful that I did the first one. not!”

Another added: “I am so grateful to you. Thank you for always sharing your story and giving other moms a place to feel safe and seen. I come here regularly when I find myself dwelling on my trauma. When I feel like the world has moved on but I’m stuck that day. Thanks for giving me space to continue to struggle with this. “

While many have sought solace from Summers’ social media platform, others have turned to his channels as a guide. In fact, Summers says a nurse even reached out to her on TikTok to tell her that her story inspired a medical unit to learn more about AEF. “The following week, a patient had an AFE and was able to save the mother and baby,” she says. “I also received a ton of comments from other moms who experienced birth trauma and found solace in the space I created on Instagram. This is the first time some of the between them feel seen and validated in their experience. “

Although rare, recent research cited by the AFE Foundation notes that an “estimated incidence of AFE is 2.5 in 100,000 births or 1 in 40,000 deliveries in North America.” Survivors, as well as those around them, “are at greater risk of experiencing lasting emotional effects after a traumatic event,” according to the foundation. These feelings can include guilt, isolation, anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress.

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Courtesy of Kayleigh Summers

“I’ve learned that it’s okay to be both angry and grateful,” Summers says. “It doesn’t matter when your baby was born to be both the best and the worst day of your life. Feelings are not mutually exclusive; we can feel them both at the same time. The trauma of birth can be devastating, but with therapy, support, and community, there is hope for a cure. (Related: What You Should Know About Supporting Your Mental Health Before and During Pregnancy)