Today is Amniotic Fluid Embolism (AFE) Awareness Day. AFE is a sudden and unexpected life-threatening birth complication that can affect both mother and baby.
AFE is very rare – about one in every 40,000 births in the United States – and is difficult to diagnose. There is no test for AFE and it is generally diagnosed only by ruling out all the other options, a “diagnosis of exclusion.” Sometimes it is not diagnosed until an autopsy. In fact, AFE is one of the most fatal birth complications in the world.
But thankfully that is not always the case, and my friend Dolan and his mother Annie are literally the living proof that there is hope. Annie’s doctor recognized the problem and got her and Dolan the immediate care they needed.
The AFE Foundation does tremendous work educating health care workers on AFEs and offering resources to doctors and nurses which will save lives. More information can be found at the Foundation’s website, AFEsupport.org.