My Horror Story: I Held My Newborns, Then Everything Went Black

“I hope that we can better our healthcare systems so that no life is lost bringing life into our world,” says Ellen Rucker Sellers, CEO of Rucker Roots, blood recipient and maternal health advocate. (Photo courtesy of Ellen Rucker Sellers)

For many mothers, giving birth is a joyous time, especially when you’re blessed with twins. However, for Dr. Ellen Rucker Sellers, a chiropractor, wife and mother of three, the experience quickly transformed into a near-fatal event. Her story serves as a reminder of the urgent need to address the maternal disparities Black women face daily during childbirth.

“I had a scheduled cesarean to deliver my twins. I carried them 38 weeks, so they were considered full term,” Dr. Rucker Sellers tells BlackDoctor.org.

Initially, the procedure went off without a hitch until doctors learned that Dr. Rucker Sellers’ daughter, Sadie, was stuck behind a fibroid that had grown during pregnancy. Although the fibroid slightly complicated Sadie’s extraction, both Sadie and her brother Stokley were delivered at a healthy weight. Stokely and Sadie were born four minutes apart, weighing 4 pounds 13 ounces and 5 pounds 9 ounces, respectively. Sadie was later diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease, and required a liver transplant.

However, what started as a celebration quickly turned into something terrifying shortly after her family left the hospital.

“We celebrated the births of them, and after all my family left around 10:30, 11:00 that evening, I started having some difficulties staying alert,” Dr. Rucker Sellers recalls.

After vomiting and losing consciousness several times, her husband —attorney, political commentator, and politician Bakari Sellers— sprang into action frantically calling for nurses.

“My doctors had gone home for the evening, and they were a little slow moving,” Dr. Rucker Sellers adds.

Finally, they were able to track down a family doctor whom Dr. Rucker Sellers knew from her neighborhood.

“She came to my bedside and she got me stable. And she said, ‘Ellen, I’m not sure you know what’s happening, but we’ve called your doctors. I’m gonna get you stable,” Dr. Rucker Sellers shares.

What the doctors didn’t know at the time was that Dr. Rucker Sellers had lost seven units of red blood cells and six units of platelets and required emergency surgery to save her life.

Initially terrified to go into surgery, Dr. Rucker Sellers found the strength to fight through her trusted doctors and a desire to be there for her family.

“I think about my husband and how assertive he was in that moment and how he was my advocate because I couldn’t advocate for myself,” says Ellen Rucker Sellers pictured with her husband Bakari, their daughter Kai at 13 and twins Sadie and Stokely at 6 months old, following Ellen’s life-threatening postpartum hemorrhage. (Photo courtesy of Ellen Rucker Sellers)

“I trusted that they were gonna do everything they could to save my life. And before they put me under, I said, ‘Listen, I have to live for my twins that I just had. They don’t know me yet. I have to live for my husband because he’s gonna need me to raise these twins. And I have to live for my daughter,’ she’s 19 now, but she was 13 [at the time] and she was at the prime of her preteen [years]. You know, that difficult time in her life,” Dr. Rucker Sellers shares.

Dr. Rucker Sellers also had a will to live for her parents and siblings, who had just tragically lost her brother to a sudden heart attack.

“I said they just can’t take another tragic death. I just have to live for all of them, but I also need to live for myself because I have so much work to do and I have so many things to do in life,” Dr. Rucker Sellers adds.

Having doctors who prayed over her was confirmation that she had picked the right team of doctors.

Now, on the other side of her near-death experience, Dr. Rucker Sellers is lucky to be alive, recognizing that many other women aren’t as lucky.

“That’s why I do this work, and that’s why I tell my story, because I want to make a difference and I want people to know the statistics for Black women,” she notes.

“I want my children to be proud of the life I live and the footprints that I leave,” says Ellen, pictured with husband Bakari, daughter Kai, and twins Sadie and Stokely. “With my daughters…I want them to have healthy, safe pregnancies, labor and delivery.”
(Photos courtesy of Ellen Rucker Sellers)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. are preventable. However, postpartum hemorrhage, which can require dozens of units of blood if bleeding continues, remains a leading cause of maternal mortality. This is especially concerning for Black women, who are already over three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than women of other racial and ethnic groups.

“I think that there has to be an urgency when there is a symptom. I think about how one of my doctors had a teenage child at home, and she actually left her child waiting for her sitter to get there. She knew that the sitter was on the way, but I just think about those sacrifices that they made for me. Just 30 minutes longer, an hour longer would have changed my [life],” Dr. Rucker Sellers shares.

Dr. Rucker Sellers also highlights the importance of doctors listening to patients and their families.

“I’m not a physician, but when you think about how fast I was losing blood and how quickly they acted – if that didn’t happen– then my outcome would have been different. So I urge doctors [and] nurses to have an urgency around the care of their patients and to listen to their patients. And of course, listen to the patient’s family. I think about my husband and how assertive he was in that moment and how he was my advocate because I couldn’t advocate for myself,” she adds.

By age 50, an estimated 80 percent of Black women are expected to develop fibroids – a condition that impacted Dr. Rucker Sellers’ birthing experience.

While her fibroid wasn’t initially deemed problematic, its growth during pregnancy likely contributed to her uterus’ difficulty in clamping down after delivery. She advises women to discuss fibroids with their doctors before pregnancy and consider removal if deemed necessary.

“With the fibroid, I think that was a contributing factor for my hemorrhage, but that wasn’t the only factor for my hemorrhaging. My uterus had trouble clamping down, but I think the stress of carrying twins and having multiple births [also played a role], “ Dr. Rucker Sellers adds.

Her personal journey has deeply shaped her mission as a mother, entrepreneur, and advocate.

Six years after Ellen Rucker Sellers’ life-changing childbirth experience, twins Sadie and Stokely share a joyful moment with parents Ellen and Bakari Sellers. “I find that so many people don’t know the importance of donating blood…the people who donated blood — they are my heroes,” Ellen shares.

As a mother of two daughters, Dr. Rucker Sellers is determined to fight for a future where Black women have healthy and safe pregnancies and deliveries.

“I know the importance of making sure that we change the narrative, we change those percentages. Unfortunately, my aunt passed away nine days after having my cousin. And so I’m reminded that things have not changed. I want to make changes. I want my girls to have different experiences with childbirth in the United States,” Dr. Rucker Sellers shares.

She also acknowledges the life-saving role blood donation played in saving her life. “I find that so many people don’t know the importance of donating blood…the people who donated blood— they are my heroes,” Ellen shares.

Driven by her experience, Dr. Rucker Sellers has become a dedicated advocate. Looking ahead, she will continue her advocacy work through collaborations with organizations like the American Red Cross and Planned Parenthood, where she serves as a board member, and using her platform to raise awareness through her website and social media channels (Ellen Rucker Sellers on all platforms).

Anyone eligible is encouraged to make an appointment to donate blood or platelets at RedCrossBlood.org, on the Red Cross Blood Donor App, or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS.