Rare Childbirth Complication Wipes Mother’s Memory Of Giving Birth To Her First Child

Nov 28, 2019 by apost team

For 38-year-old Camre Curto, giving birth was truly a life-changing experience. Although many feel the birth of their child is an unforgetable experience, for Curto, it whipped out her memory. 

Curto was seven months into her pregnancy when she started to experience odd symptoms like nausea.

"She developed some nausea and stuff, and one day her throat was swelling,” Steve, now her husband, told Inside Edition. “Her mom took her down to the hospital real quick and she ended up having a grand mal seizure." 

apost.com

Doctors concluded Curto was suffering from preeclampsia, a common pregnancy complication with serious symptoms such as high blood pressure and swelling in the hands and feet. Because Curto was not treated for the preeclampsia in time, it progressed into a less common eclampsia, where the high blood pressure starting causing seizures. Curto was placed under a medically induced coma after having an emergency C-section. 

When she woke up, she couldn't remember anything. She didn't recognize her son's father. She didn't know who her parents were. She didn't know she'd just delivered a son. She didn't know her own name. The doctors concluded she had suffered brain damage from the preeclampsia that had wiped her long-term and short-term memory. Curto has been working with therapists on re-learning about her life, but the brain damage has also impaired her ability to form new memories. She's been having to learn memory training tricks and use memory aids like putting up lots of notes.

Curto and her husband wrote a book about the experience called But I Know I Love You that was released last year. Preeclampsia can have a slow or sudden onset. It causes extremely high blood pressure, which is why it is important for pregnant women to regularly check their blood pressure. Other symptoms include nausea, headache, and blurred vision. The only way to prevent severe complications or death is to immediately terminate the pregnancy by delivering the baby.

Have you ever heard of such a rare and severe pregnancy complication? Let us know in the comments - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family.