Natalie

** TRIGGER WARNING. THIS BLOG POST INCLUDES DISCUSSION OF TRAUMATIC AND DIFFICULT BIRTHING EXPERIENCES AND MORTALITY WHICH SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING **

Giving birth should only be about joy and light. Sadly, for some it will be a time of despair and darkness.

We lost my sister Natalie on 3rd July 2014, shortly after giving birth to her daughter Chloe from something called an Amniotic Fluid Embolism. An AFE by definition is ‘a life threatening unexpected birth complication which can affect both mother and baby. It’s an allergic-like reaction to amniotic fluid entering the maternal bloodstream’.

Nats was an amazing person. Funny, beautiful, kind, charming. Her energy was captivating and all encompassing. Everyone loved her. She was my best friend in the whole entire world and even though I was. Am. Older than her, I always looked up to my younger sister. She was so organised and was my go-to person for literally everything. A hole that has yet to be filled. She worked as a Senior Credit Analyst in Shell and while her work brought her joy, being a mother to her son Zac and Chloe and a great wife to Tim made her the happiest.

The shock, the horror, the realisation that I was never going to see my sister again still stings to this day and like grief, I believe is here to stay. Our loss was so monumental I had to be able to control something in a situation that was out of our control. Trying to educate myself and understand what took her life and even helping other people so that they could possibly not suffer the same fate as is something I can control. My sister’s story needs to be told. I was told that AFE was unpredictable, unpreventable and non-diagnostic, I needed answers.

Since getting involved with the AFE Foundation shortly after Nat's passing (I was recently appointed as a Board Director), I have learned of the many challenges we face in solving this mystery of AFE. Having done extensive work in racial disparities through my role at Google, I recently discovered that in the UK women who are Black or from other minority ethnic groups are nearly 3 times more likely to die from AFE, irrespective of health, education, or wealth, than their white counterparts - further compounding the complexity of AFE.

AFE Awareness Day falls on the 27th March annually and I use this time to raise awareness of AFE and funds for the AFE Foundation. This year I am running a mask campaign in my sister's name. Masks are £10+shipping and/or people can leave a donation.

I carry on her legacy to the rare condition that took her sister’s life. I do it all for my sister. For Nat 💛

Naomi (Natalie’s sister)