Coping with a Postpartum Heart Attack

In this story, Wakisha Stewart, a mother, wife, and nurse, shares her experience of having a postpartum heart attack at the age of 31. As a young woman who was active, had healthy eating habits, and didn’t have a family history of heart disease, she didn’t expect to have a heart attack. At two weeks postpartum she experienced symptoms that included fatigue, disorientation, lightheadedness, a sharp pain radiating from her chest, and a numbing and tingling sensation in her left arm. At the hospital, she discovered that she’d had a heart attack and would need a stent to save her life. Through sharing her story, Stewart emphasizes the need for women to know our bodies and be able to advocate for our health. She also notes that heart disease disproportionately affects Black women.