Model Cara Delevingne‘s older sister Chloe revealed via Instagram that she suffered a life-threatening illness after giving birth to her two young children, Atticus and Juno.
The 27-year-old — who is married to property broker Ed Grant — took to social media on Tuesday, January 14, and told followers that she developed postpartum sepsis after both babies were born.
“I am a very blessed mummy to two amazing children aged 5 and 4. And although their arrivals in the world went pretty smoothly (albeit long and rather painful) what happened to me after was not such a good experience,” she wrote alongside a series of photos from the hospital. “I developed postpartum sepsis after both births. After Atticus it happened 5 weekend later. And after Juno, 3.”
“In my photos what I am trying to show you is how in the space of one day you can go from being totally fine to being very ill. I had to be separated from my babies. Every time someone tried to touch me it hurt, so even trying to put a cannula in my arms left me screaming in pain,” she continued. “The only way to treat sepsis is with antibiotics which meant that twice I have been pumped full of a number of extremely strong antibiotics which essentially wiped my system. And since then I don’t think I have ever experienced a day of feeling 100 % ok.”
She went on to say that in 2020, her goal is to speak out about her experience and help others who have suffered from the same life-threatening illness.
“This is the year I’ve decided enough is enough. My other reason for taking so long to talk about it is that the experiences really had a prolonged effect on my mental health and I’m only feeling strong enough to even start to recall these times now without breaking down,” she admitted. “So, if anyone has any tips, advice, similar experiences…. anything! Please share with me! I’m bored of feeling ill all the time!”
Since she posted her story, Chloe’s Instagram comments have been flooded with fans and followers offering their support and sharing their own postpartum sepsis stories.
According to the Sepsis Alliance, sepsis is the body’s often deadly inflammatory response to infection and can occur because of an infection related to the pregnancy or one that is totally unrelated. In 2013, a study reported that “sepsis is currently the leading cause of direct maternal death in the United Kingdom.”
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