Ever heard of it? Probably not unless you’ve personally been diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) or you know someone who has the diagnosis. I had certainly never heard of it. Even though I am a huge planner and tried to learn about any and all issues that could arise during pregnancy, I don’t remember seeing anything about this disease. Not on the pregnancy and baby blogs, not in the information I got from my doctor and not during any of my appointments.

PPCM is rare with only about 1,000 US women being diagnosed with it each year. I’m sure this contributes to the lack awareness but PPCM can be deadly. Over the course of this blog, I am going to write about my personal experience with this condition from diagnosis, the hospital stay and life post heart transplant.

So, what is peripartum cardiomyopathy after all?