Tennis queen Serena Williams recently revealed that her post pregnancy complications left her bedridden for six weeks after childbirth, according to Vogue.
The sports star had to undergo an emergency C-section as the baby’s pulse dropped. After this she developed clots on her lungs and suffered from an open wound which left her in bed for weeks.
Williams gave birth to a girl in fall 2017 after making headlines for keeping the pregnancy under wraps for 20 weeks.
The confirmation of the pregnancy had come in a short-lived picture on Snapchat. Posing for a photo in a yellow one-piece swimsuit, she captioned it: "20 weeks."
The duration of the pregnancy at the time implied that she was approximately two-months’ pregnant when she captured her record 23rd Grand Slam tournament title at the Australian Open in January.
Talking of the challenges of being a mother, Williams told Vogue:
Sometimes I get really down and feel like, man, I can’t do this. It’s that same negative attitude I have on the court sometimes. I guess that’s just who I am. No one talks about the low moments – the pressure you feel, the incredible letdown every time you hear the baby cry. I’ve broken down I don’t know how many times. Or I’ll get angry about the crying, then sad about being angry, and then guilty, like, why do I feel so sad when I have a beautiful baby? The emotions are insane.
However, she also spoke of how glad she is about giving birth to a girl child who she will raise to believe that there are no limitations.
I think sometimes women limit themselves. I’m not sure why we think that way, but I know that we’re sometimes taught to not dream as big as men, not to believe we can be a president or a CEO, when in the same household a male child is told he can be anything he wants.Serena Williams
The 36-year-old Williams, who is married to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, has not competed since winning her 23rd Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in January 2017. Williams is skipping this year's Australian Open, which begins next week.
Williams said in the Vogue story that she has her sights on getting to 25 major titles, which would break the all-time record of 24 held by Margaret Court.
(With inputs from AP and Vogue)
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