After a very difficult birth, she no longer remembers her triplets

in collaboration with

Johanna Rozenblum (clinical psychologist)

Last August, Marisa Christie, a Texan, was finally due to give birth to triplets thanks to a planned cesarean section. The meeting was long awaited, but nothing went as planned.

Childbirth turns into drama

On August 21, the young woman, already the mother of a 4-year-old boy, and pregnant with 3 little girls, arrived calmly at a maternity ward in the city of Houston for her planned cesarean section. The delivery takes place normally and Charlotte, Kendall and Collins, the three babies, are born. But in 45 minutes, everything collapsed for the 30-year-old mother. As her babies lay on top of her, she began to convulse. “She was almost gray.”declares on TodayDr. Ricardo Mora, anesthesiologist. “I knew something terrible had just happened.”

Marisa experiences an amniotic fluid embolism, an intense allergic reaction to amniotic fluid after childbirth while having her placenta removed. A cause that is often fatal.

Amniotic fluid embolism, the complication that all obstetricians fear

Specifically, an amniotic fluid embolism occurs when amniotic fluid, which contains cells or tissue from the fetus, enters the mother’s bloodstream, causing a serious and potentially fatal reaction. This is a rare syndrome, but increased in cases of multiple birth. It is estimated in France that it occurs in approximately 2 to 6 pregnancies/100,000.

More specifically, the passage of amniotic fluid into the maternal blood can cause pulmonary obstruction, acute respiratory distress, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), or the formation of small clots in the body’s blood vessels, responsible for hemorrhages. major.

Marisa Christie survives… but forgets her childbirth

Fortunately, the doctor who had already seen such a case quickly understood what syndrome was affecting the American woman. And manages to stabilize it. After a cardiac massage, the young woman is sedated. She then underwent removal of the uterus, which saved her, but remained unconscious for a week.

Surprise ! When she wakes up, Marisa Christie no longer has any memory of her childbirth. “My husband told me: ‘We had babies. They are healthy and in great shape.she says a few months later. “I was absolutely terrified. (…) How could I not remember having my babies?“, she admits today. In shock, the thirty-year-old confides that she then needs time to integrate the news, helped by her husband, who recounts all the episodes for her.

Attachment, stronger than complication

A few weeks later, did the shock get the better of this attachment that must be formed at the birth of a child? Questioned by us, clinical psychologist Johanna Rozenblum reassures us. According to her, despite a catastrophic start and amnesia, this family has every chance of finding unity again.

And listening to her, moreover, Marisa Christie would today be more determined than ever to enjoy the best, after having come close to the worst. “I became stronger, (…) living a traumatic experience like this changes the way we see things”assures the mother today.

Slide: The unexpected events of childbirth