Serena Reflects On First Pregnancy
Tennis legend Serena Williams has opened up about her difficult first pregnancy, reflecting on the life-threatening complications she experienced while giving birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.
Williams revisited the experience during the 2026 Forbes Power Women’s Summit in New York, where she spoke about how her own ordeal changed her understanding of the challenges women face in healthcare.
The 44-year-old former world No. 1 said that when she initially shared her childbirth experience, she did not realise how many women from different backgrounds had gone through similar situations.
Williams gave birth to Olympia in 2017 after undergoing an emergency Caesarean section.
Following the delivery, she developed serious complications. A coughing fit caused her surgical wound to reopen, and doctors discovered a large hematoma in her abdomen. She subsequently suffered a pulmonary embolism and underwent multiple surgeries during a difficult recovery.
Reflecting on the experience, Williams said she knew something was wrong and stressed the importance of medical professionals listening to patients.
She credited the doctor and nurses who listened to her concerns with helping to save her life.
The experience became a major turning point for Williams, who has since used her global platform to speak about maternal healthcare and the challenges women face when seeking medical attention.
According to Williams, she initially viewed her experience mainly through the lens of racial disparities affecting Black women. However, hearing stories from other women made her realise that problems surrounding childbirth and women’s healthcare were much broader.
“When I told my story, I didn’t realize how many people could relate,” Williams said at the summit.
She said women from different backgrounds had shared difficult experiences of their own, prompting her to look at maternal healthcare as a wider women’s issue.
Williams also used humour while discussing the subject, joking that the situation would probably be different if men were the ones giving birth.
She suggested that men would receive more comforts and medication during childbirth, using the joke to highlight what she sees as shortcomings in the way women’s healthcare is sometimes approached.
Behind the humour, however, Williams’ message remained serious: women need to be listened to and given proper access to quality healthcare during pregnancy and childbirth.
Williams’ first pregnancy also marked a major personal transformation.
She welcomed Olympia in September 2017 with husband, Alexis Ohanian, and motherhood became an important part of her life alongside her extraordinary tennis career.
She later welcomed her second daughter, Adira River Ohanian, in August 2023.
For Williams, the difficult experience surrounding her first pregnancy ultimately became a source of purpose.
Rather than keeping the ordeal private, she has continued speaking about it in the hope that other women will feel empowered to speak up when something does not feel right.
Her latest reflections once again underline the importance of patient advocacy and better maternal healthcare, while showing how one of the most challenging moments of her life helped shape the work she continues to do beyond tennis.
