‘I never felt a connection with her’: Serena Williams on daughter Olympia

American tennis player Serena Williams revealed that she never felt a connection with her daughter Olympia during her pregnancy and her near-death experience after giving birth – via an open essay for Elle on 5 April. 

SERENA WILLIAMS: ‘I’D NEVER FELT A CONNECTION WITH HER’

Serena Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian welcomed their first child together on 1 September 2017. The tennis player has now revealed, via an open essay to Elle, that she never felt a connection to her daughter during her pregnancy.

“I was nervous about meeting my baby. Throughout my pregnancy, I’d never felt a connection with her. While I loved being pregnant, I didn’t have that amazing Oh my God, this is my baby moment, ever. It’s something people don’t usually talk about, because we’re supposed to be in love from the first second,” she wrote.

“Yes, I was a lioness who would protect her baby at any cost, but I wasn’t gushing over her. I kept waiting to feel like I knew her during pregnancy, but the feeling never came. Some of my mom friends told me they didn’t feel the connection in the womb either, which made me feel better, but still, I longed for it,” she continued.

Serena may have not felt the connection throughout the pregnancy but she did when she gave birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian.

“When I finally saw her — and I just knew it was going to be a girl, that was one thing I knew about her before we even had it confirmed — I loved her right away,” she added.

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SERENA’S NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE 

The tennis player had complications after giving birth. She was rushed in for an emergency caesarean section. However, she experienced serious pain and could not stop coughing after giving birth. 

She said that she asked the nurse for a CAT scan and she was denied. However, Serena was persistent and eventually she did get her CAT scan which revealed that she had a blood clot in her lungs and it needed to be treated before it reached her heart.

“I fought hard, and I ended up getting the CAT scan. I’m so grateful to her. Lo and behold, I had a blood clot in my lungs, and they needed to insert a filter into my veins to break up the clot before it reached my heart,” she wrote.

Serena underwent three surgeries following her caesarean section. She said that this highlights how loud she had to call out and fight for her light. This highlights a severe issue in the healthcare system.

“In the U.S., Black women are nearly three times more likely to die during or after childbirth than their white counterparts. Many of these deaths are considered by experts to be preventable,” she continued. 

“Being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life or death for me; I know those statistics would be different if the medical establishment listened to every Black woman’s experience,” she added.

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