一名孕妇曾有2个征兆,预示她的生命即将陷入危险:“情况一直在恶化”


2026年8月15日 / 美国东部时间上午8:00 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻(CBS News)
作者:克里·布林 新闻编辑
克里·布林是CBSNews.com的新闻编辑,毕业于纽约大学亚瑟·L·卡特新闻学院,此前曾在NBC新闻的《今日数字》栏目工作。她负责报道时事、突发新闻以及包括物质使用障碍在内的相关议题。

阅读完整简历

坎迪斯·戴维斯原本对自己的第一次孕期轻松顺利感到惊喜。她的产检结果一直都很正常,孕期症状也很少——直到2025年6月14日,也就是她预产期前11天。

那天一开始一切正常,但随着时间推移,戴维斯坐在泳池边时开始感到恶心,随后症状转为上腹部疼痛。她的丈夫坚持要她去医院,戴维斯起初很抗拒。她作为一名妇产科医生招聘专员,自认为能判断出是否真的出了严重问题。但当她的朋友、妇产科医生苏珊·帕萨雷拉也敦促她去急诊室时,她还是妥协了。

在佛罗里达州彭萨科拉浸信会医院的产科急诊室,检查显示戴维斯的血压升高,医生决定让她留院观察一晚。随后情况迅速恶化。

戴维斯的疼痛急剧加剧,血压持续上升,肝酶数值飙升。在她抵达医院两小时内,医护团队就提出要引产。戴维斯原本希望能自然分娩,但她说“情况一直在恶化”,最终决定通过剖宫产产下孩子。


坎迪斯·戴维斯和丈夫在孕妇写真拍摄中。安娜·卡罗琳摄影工作室

“谢天谢地我们当时做了这个决定,”戴维斯说,“我当时疼得厉害。他们给我打了硬膜外麻醉来缓解上腹部疼痛,但完全没用。我只记得我很害怕。我真切地知道自己没办法自然生下我的儿子,我甚至坐不起来。我很害怕,但当时发生的状况太多了。”

剖宫产手术和严重并发症

戴维斯患上的是HELLP综合征,这是一种与子痫前期相关的罕见妊娠并发症,会影响肝脏并可能引发快速出血。帕萨雷拉医生表示,子痫前期约占所有妊娠的5%至8%,但其中只有约0.01%至0.06%会发展为HELLP综合征。通常情况下,患者在分娩后就能康复。

戴维斯的儿子通过剖宫产顺利降生,但事实证明,胎儿的身体曾压迫到她肝脏上一处17厘米长的伤口。当胎儿娩出后,肝脏开始出血,且血流不止。

“他们刚把我儿子抱出来的时候,还说‘哦,没有血,一切正常’,”戴维斯说,“但几秒钟后就有人喊‘哦,出血了,流了好多血’。麻醉师过来把面罩扣在我脸上,说‘好了,我们现在得给你麻醉了’。”

由于戴维斯的肝酶水平已经升高,她的医疗团队提前做好了应对准备。一名外科医生已经待命,剖宫产手术的切口位置也预留好了,必要时医生可以直接接触到她的肝脏。

但出血还是停不下来。戴维斯的身体状况变得极度不稳定,无法进行进一步手术,医生只好用无菌材料填塞她的腹腔,整夜等待她恢复些许体力。当时她已经无法自主呼吸。帕萨雷拉医生通过戴维斯的丈夫获取最新情况,她当时担心朋友可能再也醒不过来了。

“这简直是祸不单行,”曾治疗过HELLP综合征患者的帕萨雷拉说,“他问我‘她能活下来吗?’,我根本不知道会发生什么。”

“一段我永远不会忘记的经历”

大约24小时后,医生终于止住了戴维斯的出血。第二天,她能够自主呼吸,也逐渐恢复了意识。但她对这场磨难的最初记忆是在两天后,当时她出生仅4天的儿子被放在重症监护室的她胸口上。


坎迪斯·戴维斯和她的儿子。坎迪斯·戴维斯 供图

“我的血压仍然偏高,而我的儿子卡姆登当时在哭,”戴维斯回忆道,“我听到我姐姐说‘哦,看,他趴在她胸口就不哭了,她的血压立刻就降下来了’。那是一段我永远不会忘记的经历。”

戴维斯仍未脱离危险。她的左手形成了血栓,但由于存在肝脏再次出血的风险,她不能服用血液稀释剂。医生尝试了局部治疗,甚至使用了高压氧舱,但最终戴维斯还是失去了左手的拇指和其余四根手指的部分组织。

在接下来的几周里,戴维斯接受了六次手术以切除受损组织,术后还接受了密集的康复训练,重新学习如何使用左手。

她说,一边照顾新生儿一边适应截肢后的生活非常艰难,即便有丈夫和大家庭的支持。

“我原本计划的一切都付诸东流了,”她说,“这完全是一个和我预想截然不同的过程。我没办法自己给儿子换尿布,得找人帮忙才能喂他吃饭,连给他换衣服都做不到。”


坎迪斯·戴维斯和丈夫、儿子一起出院。坎迪斯·戴维斯 供图

寻找新的生活方向

儿子出生一年后,戴维斯和家人已经适应了新的常态。她说,自己的恢复速度甚至让自己和治疗团队都感到惊讶。她现在可以“做所有事情”,包括独立照顾儿子。假肢拇指等适配装置帮助她重新适应工作和健身房锻炼。

她说,全家今年夏天都在海滩度假放松。他们原本打算带家人出游庆祝儿子的一岁生日,但戴维斯开玩笑说,相比去年的遭遇,他们决定还是选择“轻松一点”。她计划在秋季和帕萨雷拉一起参加接力赛。


坎迪斯·戴维斯和丈夫、儿子在一起。坎迪斯·戴维斯 供图

戴维斯表示,她希望自己的经历能鼓励其他女性在孕期关注自己的身体。

“你可能拥有一段顺利的孕期,但永远不要对此想当然,”她说,“我认为女性真的很有必要倾听自己身体的声音,如果感觉哪里不对劲,就去查明原因。去做检查,不要理所当然地认为一切都没问题,觉得那只是孕期的正常症状。”

编辑:亚历克斯·桑德比

A pregnant woman had 2 signs her life was about to be in danger: “Everything kept getting worse”

August 15, 2026 / 8:00 AM EDT / CBS News

By Kerry Breen News Editor
Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News’ TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.

Read Full Bio

Candice Davis had been pleasantly surprised by the ease of her first pregnancy. Her checkups were always clear, and she had few symptoms — until June 14, 2025, 11 days before her due date.

The day started normally, but as the hours passed, Davis began to feel nauseous while sitting by her pool. Eventually, it shifted to upper abdominal pain. Her husband was insistent that she go to the hospital. Davis resisted at first. She worked as a recruiter for an OB-GYN, and felt she would know if something was seriously wrong. But when her friend and OB-GYN Dr. Susan Passarella also urged her to go to the ER, she gave in.

At the obstetric emergency department at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, tests showed Davis’ blood pressure was elevated. Her doctors decided to keep her overnight. Then things escalated quickly.

Davis’ pain increased sharply. Her blood pressure kept rising. Her liver enzymes skyrocketed. Within two hours of her arrival, her care team wanted to induce labor. Davis had hoped to have a natural birth. But “everything kept getting worse,” she said, and the decision was made to deliver her baby via cesarean section.

Candice Davis and her husband during a maternity shoot. Anna Carolyn Photography

“And thank goodness we did,” Davis said. “I was in a lot of pain. They ended up giving me an epidural to help with the pain in the upper abdomen, which did not even touch it. I just remember I was scared. I physically knew that I could not birth my son naturally. I couldn’t even sit up. I was scared, but there was just so much going on.”

A C-section and critical complications

Davis was experiencing HELLP syndrome, a rare pregnancy condition that is related to preeclampsia. It affects the liver and can cause rapid bleeding. While preeclampsia occurs in about 5% to 8% of pregnancies, only about 0.01% to 0.06% of cases develop into HELLP syndrome, Passarella said. Typically, patients recover from the condition after delivering.

Davis’ son was safely delivered via C-section, but it turned out his body had been putting pressure on a 17-centimeter injury in her liver. When he was delivered, the organ started to bleed — and didn’t stop.

“When they were getting my son out, they said, ‘Oh, there’s not blood. This is good,’” Davis said. “And within seconds, it was, ‘Oh, there’s blood, there’s a lot of blood.’ The anesthesiologist came in and put a mask over my face, and said, ‘OK, we’ve got to put you out now.’”

Davis’ team had been prepared for this outcome because of her elevated liver enzymes. A surgeon was on hand, and the C-section had been performed in such a way that surgeons could reach her liver if necessary.

But the bleeding wouldn’t stop. Davis became too unstable for further surgery, forcing doctors to pack her body with sterile materials and wait overnight for her to regain some strength. She couldn’t breathe on her own. Passarella, who was receiving updates through Davis’ husband, feared her friend would never wake up.

“It was just one thing after another,” said Passarella, who has treated patients with HELLP syndrome. “He asked me, ‘Is she going to survive this?’ I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

“Something I’ll never forget”

After about 24 hours, doctors were able to stop Davis’ bleeding. The next day, she was able to breathe on her own and began to regain consciousness. But her first memory of the ordeal came two days later, when her then-4-day-old son was placed on her chest in the intensive care unit.

Candice Davis and her son. Candice Davis

“My blood pressure was still elevated, and Camden, my son, he was crying,” Davis recalled. “I heard my sister say, ‘Oh look, he stopped crying when he got on her chest, and her blood pressure immediately started decreasing.’ That’s something I’ll never forget.”

Davis still wasn’t out of the woods. Blood clots had formed in her left hand. She couldn’t take blood thinners because of the risk of her liver bleeding again. Doctors tried topical treatments and even a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, but Davis wound up losing her thumb and parts of her other four fingers on her left hand.

In the following weeks, Davis underwent six surgeries to remove the damaged tissue. The procedures were followed by intensive therapy to relearn how to use her hand.

Adjusting to the amputations while caring for a newborn was taxing, she said, even with the support of her husband and their extended family.

“Everything I had planned just went out the window,” she said. “It was a whole process in terms of what changed from what I thought was going to happen. I couldn’t change his diaper by myself. I had to get help feeding him. I couldn’t change his clothes.”

Candice Davis leaves the hospital with her son and husband. Candice Davis

Finding a new way forward

One year after her son’s birth, Davis and her family have found a new normal. She has surprised herself and her therapeutic team with the speed of her recovery, she said. She can do “all the things,” including caring for her son independently. Adaptive devices like a prosthetic thumb have helped her adjust at work and in the gym.

Her family spent the summer relaxing on the beach, she said. They considered taking a trip to celebrate her son’s first birthday, but decided instead to take it easy “compared to what we had last year,” Davis joked. She plans to compete in a relay race with Passarella in the fall.

Candice Davis with her husband and son. Candice Davis

Davis said she hopes her experience will encourage others to pay attention to their bodies during pregnancy.

“You can have a good pregnancy, but don’t ever take that for granted,” she said. “I think it’s just really important for women to listen to their bodies, and if something doesn’t feel right, figure that out. Go get checked. Don’t just take for granted that everything is fine and it’s just a pregnancy symptom.”

Edited by Alex Sundby

评论

发表回复

您的邮箱地址不会被公开。 必填项已用 * 标注

湘ICP备2026001899号-2