02/16/2026
Meet Renee and Ellie:
By looking at the photo above, could you believe they were in full-blown heart failure?
Renee lived in Tennessee and gave birth to her daughter on October 12, 1994. The following day, everything changed. She coded twice, and her family was suddenly facing the unthinkable. Doctors worked urgently to save her life while her parents watched, unsure whether they would lose their daughter only one day after she became a mother.
Over the years that followed, she lived as a young mother while quietly battling a failing heart. Her family was told she might not survive her first year, yet she went on to live eight more years. When she passed away at just 28 years old, her parents then stepped into another role, raising her eight-year-old child as their own. Her mother made sure to gather and preserve every medical record, sensing they might one day be important.
Years later, those records became heartbreakingly relevant. The baby girl in the photo grew up, started a family of her own, and became pregnant with her second child in 2022. She had not experienced complications with her first pregnancy, but this time something felt wrong. Months before her baby boy was born, she began having symptoms and sought medical care repeatedly. She made multiple visits to the emergency room and to her primary care physician, reporting shortness of breath and swelling. Each time, she was dismissed.
She knew her family history. She recognized the symptoms. Still, she was told it was asthma. She was told it was smoking. No one listened. When her baby was nearly five months old, she returned to the emergency room and refused to leave until doctors found the cause. By then, her heart was already failing. Three years after her diagnosis, she told her family she felt unwell.
Both passing away from the same condition, Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a form of dilated cardiomyopathy that can strike during pregnancy or in the first year postpartum, often with life-threatening consequences if left undetected.
Today, Renee and Ellie's family now hopes to pursue genetic testing to protect the next generation. They strongly believe the BNP blood test should be standard for at-risk pregnant and postpartum mothers to help detect PPCM sooner.❤️🩹
Visit: https://letstalkppcm.org/share-your-story-1
to share your PPCM story and help raise awareness.
