New Mom Shares How Her Heart Attack Was Dismissed as Just Anxiety

Two weeks after Wakisha Stewart delivered her second child, Diego, the couple went out to a friend's dinner party and left the baby to a relative.

Stewart suddenly felt disoriented, and her brain seemed foggy. She suddenly got tired and thought it was related to pregnancy and motherhood. She went to the bathroom to splash herself with water when she had sharp chest pain, but it got worse. The pain was radiating into her back and neck, and jaw. She felt like her chest was being crushed, Stewart told Insider.

She also had a problem breathing and had a tight sensation down her left arm. Sensing that something was wrong, she asked her husband to take her to the hospital. She vomited along the way.

Panic Attack

When she described her symptoms to the hospital's receptionist, the woman told her that she had a panic attack. When Stewart insisted that it was more than a panic attack, the employee rolled her eyes and asked her to sit in the waiting area.

After waiting for 30 to 40 minutes, the triage caught sight of Stewart, and the clinicians realized that she had a heart attack. Preparing to die, she told her husband to tell his newborn son that she loved him and wanted him so much.

Ten years later, Stewart shares her experience as a volunteer for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women Campaign.

Heart Problem in PostPartum women

Medics sent the mom to a hospital with a cardiac intervention unit. A cardiologist inserted a stent that saved her life. Doctors later said that she had suffered a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), a condition when a tear forms in a heart blood vessel, Mayo Clinic says.

In her case, the tear blocked blood flow in the left anterior descending artery, causing a heart attack.

The mom is a 31-year-old nurse with no history of heart disease and was an athlete. While in pain, she asked how is it possible for her to have a heart attack. She thought that she had given life into the world, and now she is about to die.

Mental Anxiety

She said the worst part did not end in the hospital. Eight weeks after the discharge, she could not hold on to Diego, who was more than 10 pounds. She could not bond or rush to her son's room and pick him up or lay with his son. She had agoraphobia, anxiety, and depression. She was angry at everything. Over time, Stewart got better. She pursued higher nursing education and finished valedictorian. Most importantly, she sought doctors whom she trusted.

She said her healing made a difference because she found a cardiologist willing to do the work, listens to her, and acknowledge her pains.

Medical Gaslighting

According to Medical News Today, medical gaslighting happens when medical professionals dismiss a person's symptoms, misdiagnose them or deny them treatments, and according to research, this is common among black people. Following her experience, Stewart now encourages women not to ignore symptoms, especially after birth. When with symptoms that are out of the ordinary, bring a friend or relative who can emphasize that the character and symptoms are unusual for you. Doing so could save a life.