Born with a congenital heart defect, Kewanna Frierson had two open heart surgeries before she turned 2 and developed heart failure when she was 25. Due to her condition, she knew pregnancy could be fatal.
“When your heart is already functioning at a lower rate and you add in producing a little human, it creates more fluid in our body and more blood for your body to pump, which adds more stress to your heart,” she said.
After losing a son at 18 weeks pregnant, plus two miscarriages, Frierson was “walking on eggshells” when she came to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for prenatal care.
“Everyone had a how-can-I-help attitude and welcomed me with open arms,” she said. “They laid out the facts and risk and told me if I wanted to take the risk, they would take them with me. They never favored one decision over the other but told me no matter what decision I made they would support me through either one. And they did just that.”
Further into her pregnancy, Frierson experienced symptoms that her heart was getting worse — to the point that she was prepped for a possible heart transplant before she delivered at 28 weeks.
“A lot of Black women have anxiety and fear entering into motherhood. You don’t hear any of the success stories. You don’t hear how people can not only survive but thrive and have healthy pregnancy — and that’s actually what’s most likely to happen. When we measure maternal mortality, the denominator is in the hundreds of thousands, so it’s still a relatively rare event. The vast majority of Black women will go on to deliver healthy babies without any complications.”
Rolanda Lister, MD
“I remember my cardiologist telling me, ‘Things are not going to get easier from here. It’s not too late to change your mind, but if you want to continue, we will support you and do everything we can to keep you and your baby safe,’” she said. “Those words meant the world to me. The doctors never judged me: They all made me feel comfortable and like I was in control and they were just there to help. And because of that, I have a beautiful baby girl!”
Honoring the Courage of Motherhood
On Saturday, April 20, Frierson will share her experience at the Celebration of Black Motherhood, a community baby shower at The Cal Turner Family Center at Meharry Medical College for expectant Black mothers. The community baby shower will feature food, giveaways, a photo booth and panel discussion with Black mothers, clinicians and birth advocates.
The Celebration of Black Motherhood, part of Black Maternal Health Week April 11-17, was created to elevate the positive stories and experiences around Black births.
Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women due to factors including underlying chronic conditions, racism, access to quality health care and implicit bias, according to the CDC.
“When you hear about black maternal health, the conversation tends to be very negative, dark and a recounting of the dismal statistics,” said Rolanda Lister, MD, associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and event organizer. “As a result, a lot of Black women have anxiety and fear entering into motherhood. You don’t hear any of the success stories. You don’t hear how people can not only survive but thrive and have healthy pregnancy — and that’s actually what’s most likely to happen. When we measure maternal mortality, the denominator is in the hundreds of thousands, so it’s still a relatively rare event. The vast majority of Black women will go on to deliver healthy babies without any complications.”
As a practicing physician, Lister sees many patients whose main concern isn’t whether they’re carrying a boy or a girl, or how to have healthy nutrition; they’re concerned they’re going to die.
“It’s heartbreaking that their anxiety preoccupies what should be a time of joy, celebration and optimism,” Lister said. “I want people who attend this event to know they are loved, honored and not alone. That we honor their courage of embarking on motherhood. We want them to have hope, listen to advice on how to have a healthy pregnancy and be privy to a host of community resources for support during and after their pregnancy.”