A woman has described the terrifying instant she believed she might not survive after noticing black shadows during labor.
Casey Gould had reached a point where she and her husband decided to stop trying for a baby following three miscarriages and unsuccessful infertility treatment. But only a month after making that decision, she discovered she was pregnant.
Expecting a baby boy, Casey said the pregnancy itself was smooth enough that she didn’t feel anxious about labor. She was looking forward to finally meeting her son.
That confidence changed on November 1, 2024, when the 33-year-old went into labor—an ordeal that stretched on for 36 hours.
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. She struggled to put the experience into words, but said the black shadows seemed to be ‘enveloping’ the corner of the room.
As her fear escalated, she reached for a doctor and a nurse and told them: “Something’s wrong. I think I’m about to die.”
Not long after, she was taken in for an emergency c-section when her son’s heart rate suddenly dropped.
Then Casey’s condition deteriorated as well, with her heart beginning to fail. Doctors fitted her with an Impella pump, and she spent the next two days in an ICU coma.
Casey had suffered Peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare heart muscle disease that can develop late in pregnancy or in the first months after giving birth, according to Cardiomyopathy UK. The condition weakens and enlarges the heart, reducing its ability to pump blood effectively.
After nine days in ICU, Casey told CBS it ‘was the most traumatic night of a lot of people’s lives’.
Thankfully, both Casey and her baby boy have recovered well—something she called ‘pretty miraculous’.
The condition is believed to impact roughly 1 in 5000 pregnancies, and several public figures have also shared their experiences with it.
Lisa Schwartz, a voice actress and content creator, developed the illness after the birth of her daughter.
At first, Schwartz assumed what she felt was ordinary exhaustion associated with postpartum recovery, before later learning the real cause.
“No one warned me. Now, I speak so another mother never has to say, ‘I didn’t know,’” she told LetsTalk PPCM.
Schwartz now works to raise awareness, speaking openly about symptoms and warning signs in the hope of helping others recognize the condition sooner.