Shelley P.

Almost 32 years ago, I suffered sepsis during the C-section birth of my son after a long labor. (Sepsis and Pregnancy & Childbirth)

A midwife broke my water and labor was induced but I failed to dilate sufficiently. Infection set in, an OB was finally called in, and he thought there was fetal-pelvic disproportion as my son was a very big baby. I delivered him after 22 hours, began to be very nauseous, my blood pressure dropped, and due to it not being known if he was actually septic, he was whisked quickly to NICU.

I was semi-conscious for several hours. He was treated with gentamycin, which affects hearing and is likely now the reason he was hearing impaired since childhood–though we are glad it wasn’t worse, and both of us had no other ill effects. With what I’ve learned since about sepsis, I’m grateful for the wonderful care we received right after the birth from UH Cleveland.