Serena Williams explains how she survived after birthing her daughter

Tennis champ Serena Williams in a new interview with CNN, detailed her near-death experience after giving birth to her daughter Olympia.

“First my C-section wound popped open due to the intense coughing I endured as a result of the embolism,” she writes. “I returned to surgery, where the doctors found a large hematoma, a swelling of clotted blood, in my abdomen.”

“And then I returned to the operating room for a procedure that prevents clots from traveling to my lungs,” she continues. “When I finally made it home to my family, I had to spend the first six weeks of motherhood in bed.”

Serena Williams and baby Olympia Ohanian covers Vogue Magazine

She continued saying her access to great medical care made the difference.

“I am so grateful I had access to such an incredible medical team of doctors and nurses at a hospital with state-of-the-art equipment,” she writes. “They knew exactly how to handle this complicated turn of events. If it weren’t for their professional care, I wouldn’t be here today.”