Serena Williams turned a frightening childbirth experience into a pointed conversation about women’s healthcare. The tennis legend said her ordeal showed her how widespread those struggles had become.
Williams revisited the experience during the Forbes Power Women’s Summit on September 10. She also connected her advocacy to motherhood, entrepreneurship and the example she wanted to set for her daughters.
Serena Williams says her difficult birth opened her eyes to women’s health
Williams told Forbes Executive Vice President Moira Forbes that she initially misunderstood the scale of the problem. “When I told my story, I didn’t realize how many people could relate,” she said. “Then I realized it’s a women’s problem.” She later delivered her bluntest punchline about childbirth. “If men were giving birth, they would have sweets [and] like all kinds of medicines,” Williams said. She joked that the healthcare problem “wouldn’t be the same” otherwise.
The 44-year-old faced life-threatening complications after delivering Alexis Olympia in 2017. Doctors performed an emergency C-section before a coughing fit reopened her wound. Williams previously detailed the ordeal in a 2018 CNN opinion piece. Doctors discovered a large abdominal hematoma before she developed a pulmonary embolism.
The condition triggered a six-day medical battle and multiple surgeries. Williams said her doctor listened when she knew something had gone wrong. “I knew something was wrong with me and it was super important that I was heard,” she said. She credited her doctor and nurses with helping save her life.
That experience pushed Williams toward improving healthcare access for women and underrepresented communities. She later became the first entrepreneur-in-residence for Reckitt Catalyst. The program supported female and underrepresented founders tackling health and sanitation challenges. Williams said women’s healthcare remained crucial because mothers often carried major caregiving responsibilities.
She also used her platform to promote practical solutions. In her CNN essay, Williams highlighted midwives, functional facilities, basic medicines and nutrition. Her family later grew again when she welcomed daughter Adira River Ohanian in August 2023. Williams shared both daughters with husband Alexis Ohanian.
Meanwhile, tennis remained another piece of her evolving identity. Williams returned to the court in June 2026 but described the comeback as temporary fun. She said the return helped her daughters see they could embrace multiple roles. “We’re expected to wear several hats and not complain about it,” Williams told Forbes.
Her message stayed consistent: motherhood, business and sport did not need separate boxes.
