This Mother’s Day, Cori Broadus is preparing to bring her infant daughter – Codi Dreux – home for the first time, possibly this month.
Broadus, 25, owner of a beauty company and daughter of rapper Snoop Dogg, gave birth in February – a little less than four months before her due date.
In her young life, Broadus has faced serious health issues, including lupus, with which she was diagnosed at age 7. She also has secondary antiphospholipid antibody syndrome – an autoimmune disorder – and suffered a stroke a year before her pregnancy.
Now, she is speaking up about a rare, life-threatening pregnancy complication called HELLP syndrome, which caused her daughter’s premature birth.
A heartbreaking diagnosis
Broadus said the problems began around the 25th week of her pregnancy, toward the end of February, when she started to experience vague pains in her upper abdominal area.
“I thought at first that it was gas and it’ll pass,” she said, adding that she tried self-medicating for a couple of days before calling her obstetrician and maternal-fetal medicine specialist, Rashmi Rao, MD, on Feb. 27. She said her doctor immediately suspected she may have preeclampsia, a serious complication of pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure, protein in the urine and potential complications to the person’s organs.
“She told me I needed to go to UCLA labor and delivery right away,” Broadus said. “I got ready and went in thinking it was just going to be a checkup. I thought, I’m going to go right back home and we’re gonna keep baking.”
At the hospital, as doctors ran a battery of tests, Broadus found out she had developed HELLP (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets) syndrome, a variant of preeclampsia whose symptoms are sometimes mistaken for heartburn, flu, hepatitis or other health conditions. Early diagnosis is critical for HELLP syndrome because serious illness or even death for both mother and baby can occur in up to 25% of cases if the diagnosis is missed.
“I was a wreck,” Broadus said. “I was just so sad, and felt like I’d failed my baby. I felt like I couldn’t give her what she needed as her mama. I couldn’t give her the right environment to grow in, the nutrition she needed.”
The UCLA Health obstetrics team stabilized and prepared Broadus for delivery and performed a C-section the following day. Ever since, the baby has been under the care of UCLA’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Broadus said it’s been a turbulent few months, but she has been sharing her journey on Instagram so it benefits other women, especially Black women who she hopes might feel inspired by her story to advocate for themselves.
She says despite the initial feelings of guilt, she now understands that she did the right thing by calling her doctor and getting to the hospital as soon as she started experiencing those unusual symptoms.
No known cause or cure
Christina Han, MD, clinical professor and interim chair and executive medical director of UCLA Obstetrics and Gynecology, said Broadus “did everything right” in truly extenuating circumstances.
“Pregnancy and motherhood can be very guilt-inducing,” Dr. Han said. “I often remind patients, including Cori, that much of what happens in pregnancy is out of your control. Doctors don’t fully understand why these syndromes happen yet, and have very limited tools in preventing the condition. Cori did everything right in making sure she spoke up and advocated for herself. She found the right team to keep her safe, and she did the absolute best she could for her baby.”
Dr. Han said the current understanding of HELLP syndrome is based on studies of preeclampsia, which is considered to be a result of abnormal function of the placenta during pregnancy.
“What is happening to the placenta at a microscopic level could set off a series of events, from high blood pressure to organ damage,” she said. “The liver, red blood cell count, platelets all start showing abnormal results. If delivery does not happen in a timely manner, the syndrome could escalate quickly and pose a threat to the mother and the fetus.”
There are also no clear symptoms, which further complicates things. Dr. Han said headaches, vision changes such as flashing lights in one’s visual field, and gas-like belly pain, especially on the upper right side, which Broadus had, are just some of the symptoms that could indicate preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome. While a lot of research has gone into predicting who will develop these conditions, there still isn’t a known cause or a cure, other than delivery.
“Aspirin is all we have for prevention of preeclampsia and that’s a drop in the ocean when it comes to this disorder,” she said.
Thalia Mok, MD, who runs Postpartum Remote Hypertension Monitoring at UCLA Health, said Broadus is now enrolled in the program to ensure continued close monitoring of her blood pressure and continuity of care. This program, which UCLA Health started in 2022, provides all patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy with a blood pressure cuff and enrollment in remote blood pressure monitoring, allowing for convenient at-home virtual management of blood pressure to ensure the safety of mothers during the critical postpartum period.
“Cori was closely monitored through our remote blood pressure monitoring program and had a two-week in-person check-in to ensure her continued safety after delivery,” Dr. Mok said. “We also plan to follow up with her long term at our Women’s Cardiovascular Center, where we provide personalized care through blood pressure monitoring, lifestyle counseling and laboratory assessments to further reduce her long-term cardiovascular risks. Our goal is to provide this care to new mothers who have experienced a pregnancy complication, like Cori, to optimize their cardiovascular health and improve future pregnancy outcomes.”
Inequities in maternal care for Black women
Lisa A. Nicholas, MD, a vice chair of the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said Black women in particular experience tremendous fear and anxiety because of lack of trust in a health care system that has historically failed them. This has resulted in women seeking out alternate ways to render care through birthing centers and home births, which peaked during the coronavirus pandemic, with midwives and doulas playing important roles.
According to a report on maternal mortality released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2021, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 69.9 per 100,000 live births, which is 2.6 times the rate for white women.
Dr. Nicholas said UCLA Health has worked hard to build trust with the community and “provide options for care, allowing them to participate in decision making.” She recommends that patients always have a trusted individual accompanying them during office appointments and during labor and delivery.
“It’s important to make certain that the person who is helping you is accessible and available and not dismissive of your concerns,” she said.
Some of the key risk factors for HELLP syndrome are high blood pressure, diabetes, multiple fetuses or a mother older than 35 or 40, Dr. Nicholas said. Lupus and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, both of which Broadus had, are also strong risk factors.
“Knowing these risk factors and making sure you respond to subtle symptoms such as headaches, vision changes or simply not feeling like yourself, is important,” she said. “When something doesn’t feel right, that’s a good enough reason to call your physician.”
UCLA’s Black CenteringPregnancy program and its affiliation with the Black Maternal Health Center of Excellence helps fill gaps with wraparound service such as lactation support, and by providing compassionate care “when things go wrong” by reaching out to the patient and helping them get through the tough times with mental health support services, Dr. Nicholas said.
In addition, UCLA Health is training and educating residents and students about forming community connections and improving communication skills, she said.
The power of a mother’s story
As she has started telling her story on Instagram, Broadus is realizing that many women have not heard of HELLP syndrome, just as she hadn’t. She is also overwhelmed by the emotional support she has received from other women.
“The other day, I posted how many days we’ve been in the NICU and asked other moms how long their stay was, and I was so overwhelmed by all the replies I got,” she said. “All these women were sharing their stories and praying for me, my baby and my family. I think it’s powerful that we’re strangers to each other and still feel this connection as moms.”
It’s made her understand that she is not alone, Broadus said.
“In these tough situations, we feel like we’re the only ones going through them,” she said. “But there are many others out there going through the exact same thing. So, I love that I’m able to share my story and someone out there could benefit from it, find comfort in it. That’s a beautiful thing. I want to keep using my platform to continue spreading awareness about HELLP syndrome, about Black maternal health and for advocating for your health as a woman of color.”
She also appreciates the support and care she and her daughter have received and continue to receive from UCLA Health.
“Goodness, I want to give them all a hug, and give them flowers,” she said. “In the medical business, you hear a lot of stories of doctors not caring about you. But everyone at UCLA was so comforting and so supportive. I was crying my eyes out and they were just there for me, telling me I did the right thing, and that I’m going to be OK and my baby’s going to be OK. And they were totally right.”
Broadus said her unflinching faith in God has helped her navigate these challenging times.
“I think God gives his strongest soldiers things that he knows we can handle,” he said. “I feel blessed to experience all of this and to be OK at the end of it all, and still be able to tell my story that could help someone else.”
