A year ago today, I had just completed my 499th barre class and was on my way to what I thought was going to be just my standard 36 week prenatal appointment, not knowing my life would change forever that day. I had been feeling fatigued, a bit out of breath and had pain in my side, symptoms which I just chalked up to being toward the end of my pregnancy, but they were symptoms of an extremely serious and rare complication. I had listened to EVERY podcast, read every book about pregnancy and took multiple classes, but I had never heard of HELLP Syndrome.

HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening pregnancy complication usually considered to be a variant of preeclampsia, which affects less than 1% of pregnancies. Both conditions usually occur during the later stages of pregnancy, or sometimes after childbirth.

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H(hemolysis, which is the breaking down of red blood cells)

EL(elevated liver enzymes)

LP(low platelet count).

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The mortality rate of HELLP syndrome has been reported to be as high as 30%. That's why it's critical for expecting mothers to be aware of the condition and its symptoms so they can receive early diagnosis and treatment.

My son and I are incredibly lucky that our doctors listened to me, recognized my symptoms and quickly diagnosed and induced me. If they hadn’t, we may have had more severe and long term health complications. We were lucky to avoid c-section, a NICU stay for baby, blood transfusions or a long term hospital stay for mama. While we are grateful and feel blessed to have had the best of a dire situation, we want other mamas and babies not to feel blindsided by this rare and little understood condition. In honor of my anniversary of surviving HELLP Syndrome and Jonathan’s first birthday, please consider making a small donation to the Preeclampsia Foundation so that we can learn more about this disease, and help support mamas so they too can have positive birth outcomes!