The Hear Her campaign provides resources for pregnant and postpartum women to share concerns with providers and to recognize urgent warning signs, according to the CDC.1
A common theme in reading the narratives is that pregnant women are almost reflexively reassured by caregivers and their own families, who do not want to cause alarm but trigger anxiety by not validating their concerns.
The CDC campaign promotes the need for providers to actively listen to their patients’ concerns and provide culturally appropriate, respectful care.
Comments by women on the website include:
- Kylie: “Being a mother is amazing, and we have this story together. We both survived. Not everyone who faces what I faced gets to say that. If you know in your gut that something is wrong, something is wrong. I just really want women and their support systems to advocate hard. It could mean your life. It could mean your child’s life. There’s no little questions when it comes to your healthcare.”
- Eleorra: “I had constant chest pains, and it felt like someone was stabbing at my chest. It felt like I couldn’t breathe for about a good three to four minutes, and it was painful. I knew with this pregnancy something didn’t feel right. I told my family members, and they were like, ‘It’s just pregnancy related, you know, everyone goes through it.’ I told my spouse what was going on. He was like, ‘You’re exaggerating.’ No one should have to feel that way.”
- Lindsay: “I had heard of pre-eclampsia before, but I had never experienced it due to the fact that my first pregnancy was so normal. Once I started having the symptoms, it was very, very scary. Then, when I would voice my concerns sometimes it would be, ‘Oh, you’re pregnant, your feet are supposed to swell.’ Or ‘Oh, you’re fine. You’re pregnant, like, it’s fine,’ but I didn’t feel fine. My advice to a woman is you know yourself — you know your body. If it’s nothing, then let the doctor tell you that it’s nothing. Because you’d rather be safe and it be nothing than have not spoken to anybody and it be something very serious and something that is preventable.”
- Valencia: “I didn’t have what I needed, the tools. I didn’t know who to talk to, or how to talk, or how to speak up for myself. I was scared. I was scared a lot of the time because I just felt like no one heard me. It’s extremely important to hear women, because you don’t know what they’re feeling, but they do. I want to share my story to help other women speak up and be heard.”
- Sanari: “I felt like, ‘I don’t think that this is normal. I don’t think that I should be feeling like this.’ I went to a different hospital, and they found an 11 cm abscess on my uterus. They’d never seen this before, and they said that had I not come in, it could have easily been a ‘There’s nothing we can do’ situation. Even if those around you aren’t listening, or they’re trying to pacify what you’re feeling and telling you this is just normal, trust your gut and know that it’s not normal if you don’t feel it’s normal. Tests may come out, you know, to say that it’s perfectly fine, but you’d rather err on the safe side and know that you’re OK.”
REFERENCE
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hear personal stories of pregnancy-related complications. Last reviewed May 1, 2023.
The Hear Her campaign provides resources for pregnant and postpartum women to share concerns with providers and to recognize urgent warning signs, according to the CDC.
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