Nicolette: Easy First Pregnancy Followed by a Splenic Aortic Aneurysm During Second Labor

The Golden Hour Birth Podcast

*Trigger Warning* : This story contains a maternal and fetal near-miss. This is part 1 of 3.

Nicolette, a Labor & Delivery Nurse, from Virginia shares her first and second birth stories. Ten years ago, she had her first child. When she was 6 months old, she decided to become a L&D nurse.
Ten years later, she and her husband decided to have another child and quickly got pregnant. During her second trimester, she had a strange feeling that she was going to die during childbirth. She started following birth trauma Instagram accounts and shared this with her OB. She planned her induction to have her son on her dad’s birthday. She went in for her induction and was pampered by her L&D nurse co-workers all night.
The next morning things took a drastic turn as she collapsed and couldn’t talk. Her life was flashing before her eyes and she knew she had to fight to save her and her son’s lives. The medical team scrambled to find out what was happening to Nicolette as they prepped her for an emergency c-section. She had suffered a splenic artery aneurysm. Splenic artery aneurysm (SAA) is a rare but potentially fatal condition. Rupture results in 25% mortality up to 75% in pregnant women with 95% fetal mortality. Tune in to hear Nicolette’s story. We'll be back next week with part 2.
Connect with Nicolette on Instagram here.
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Intro Song by Carpathians (Donny Rodgers): https://carpathians.bandcamp.com/track/lavaman