Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Emily Naegle experienced peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare heart failure, after childbirth.
- The condition affects 1 in 1,000 to 4,000 births and can mimic pregnancy symptoms.
BOUNTIFUL — For Emily Naegle, life looks a little different than she had planned.
"There's lots of ups and downs," the 28-year-old said.
When she was pregnant with her now 2-year-old daughter, Nellie, Naegle started experiencing scary symptoms.
"I was getting really lightheaded," Naegle said. "I gained 80 pounds. I had very low blood pressure in my third trimester."
After giving birth, she ended up collapsing at the hospital.
"Things started going black. I couldn't breathe very well," she said. "They got me on oxygen and did an EKG. It measured as a mini heart attack."
Three days postpartum, Naegle was diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy, a rare form of heart failure that can happen during the last month of pregnancy and up to five months after delivery.
"You come off this high of becoming a mom, and then you're diagnosed with something that I've never even heard of," she said.
Peripartum cardiomyopathy can affect women of any age during pregnancy but is more likely to happen in women over 30, Black women, women with multi-gestational pregnancies (like twins), and women with hypertension.
"It occurs in this range of 1 to 1,000 to 1 to 4,000 live births," said Kismet Rasmusson, a nurse practitioner with Intermountain Health's heart failure and transplant team.
Rasmusson said the exact cause of this condition is unclear, but it can be attributed to pregnancy stress, an immune response or genetics. And since peripartum cardiomyopathy can mimic pregnancy symptoms, it can be hard to catch.
"Women really need to be their own advocates," Rasmusson said. "They need to say, 'Hey, I'm worried, these symptoms are scaring me. I don't like them.' They should be asking their own questions, especially when they're not feeling well."
Fortunately, Naegle was able to start working with a cardiology team, who immediately put her on medication, and began making lifestyle changes to strengthen her heart.
"I had to be careful about exercise. I had to watch my fluid intake. I was having to weigh myself morning and night, and if I gained a pound overnight, that could be an indication of fluid overload or retention."
Her experience hasn't come without heartache.
"They told me, 'You can never have any more children without ending up on a heart transplant list,'" she said. "Every single day I think about if I'm ever going to have another baby."
But she's taking it one day at a time, and is passionate about sharing her story to help other women.
"You don't need to be scared," she said. "You can live with a chronic condition and still have a life full of peace and joy and light."
