When Brianna Harris-Henderson was 23 years old and expecting her second baby, she started feeling short of breath. The diagnosis was Peripartum Cardiomyopathy or PPCM, a condition that would change her life.
"Because it's a rare condition, doctors aren't gonna be looking for it, patients aren't gonna be looking for it," Harris-Henderson said. "I wasn't looking for it!"
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WATCH HEREPPCM risk factors include having multiple pregnancies or twins, being an older mother, having a history of cardiac disorder, high blood pressure, diabetes, genetics, and being of African American descent. The symptoms include shortness of breath, fatigue, swollen legs/ankles/feet, chest pains/tightness, and a racing heartbeat.
Harris-Henderson's symptoms were familiar because they mimicked her older sister's symptoms just three years prior when she had her second baby. Harris-Henderson's sister was never diagnosed with PPCM. Her outcome was very different.
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SIGN UP "She died in need of a heart, but she didn't want nobody to lose their life for her to live," Harris-Henderson said wiping away tears. "To this day, I think about it. It's like, her kids have grown up without her, and it's hard being there, just trying to see them, just knowing that she could have been saved and a lot of other moms we've lost could have been saved."
Harris-Henderson has since started the nonprofit Let's Talk PPCM to bring awareness and change outcomes. She's also helped her two children write children's books about PPCM to help other families know they aren't alone. Last year she pushed to get Texas to recognize PPCM with a week in May promoting awareness. Harris-Henderson said she plans to do the same this year.
"You gotta have special power to have a condition like this," Harris-Henderson said. "I feel like if we would have had something like that years ago, my sister would have known, 'OK, I just had a baby, I'm feeling shortness of breath. Oh! This could be a sign of PPCM.'"
