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Rebecca's wish had come true:
she was having a little girl!
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 After having twin boys, Rebecca was due to deliver her much-longed-for girl on January 4, this year. For several weeks last October, she complained about experiencing swelling, headaches, and blurred vision. Finally, in early November, the doctor checked her out and found her blood pressure elevated and protein in her urine. He put her on blood pressure medication and bedrest.
On Thanksgiving Day, despite having no appetite, Rebecca's back and stomach started hurting terribly. She threw up. Eventually in the hospital on "stroke watch," she was wheeled in for a C-section delivery, where Cheyanne was born at a little over 3 pounds. Her daughter would spend 3 weeks in the NICU before coming home.
Rebecca's uncontrolled bleeding led to an emergency hysterectomy. Her recovery was not going well; she needed to be transported to another hospital with more resources. Rebecca was in critical condition as she lay with her eyes taped closed and tubes pumping air into her lungs. She was crying. This was not what having a baby was supposed to be like.
Rebecca's mother held her hand and said, "Hang in there. You have a beautiful baby girl and two handsome boys to raise." Alone with her daughter, Rebecca's mother leaned over and whispered, "I love you very much."
Rebecca died later that day from complications of preeclampsia.
She was 27 years old.
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 | "When I wish... I wish for my mommy's arms to hold me." Rebecca's daughter, Cheyanne
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The Preeclampsia Foundation's wish is for a world where hypertensive disorders of pregnancy no longer threatens the lives of mothers and babies. With your help, we are working to make that vision a reality.
For the past two years, we partnered with the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative to identify opportunities for healthcare improvements and developed a Preeclampsia Management Toolkit to help prevent maternal mortality. The Toolkit will help healthcare providers identify preeclampsia earlier and take proper steps to prevent mothers from dying in California, where 500,000 babies are born each year.
But our work is not done until maternal mortality and better preeclampsia care is on the agenda of all 50 states.
Your gift will help us partner with other states to develop similar programs that explore the causes of maternal mortality and then create and disseminate effective interventions.
Please join us today with a gift to support this initiative so when a child makes a wish... it can be one of joy, inspiration and wonder. Thank you. Eleni Tsigas Executive Director
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About The Preeclampsia Foundation
The Preeclampsia Foundation (www.preeclampsia.org) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to reduce maternal and infant illness and death due to preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy by providing patient support and education, raising public awareness, catalyzing research and improving healthcare practices. We envision a world where preeclampsia no longer threatens the lives of mothers and babies. Our non-profit tax identification number is 91-2073087.
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