A woman has revealed how pregnancy saved her life when doctors found a huge mass in her chest - just seven days after giving birth.
Brittany Locker, 34, from St. Charles, Missouri, had given birth to daughter Liv on August 4, 2022, but was left stunned when an MRI scan showed a huge mass compressing the right side of her heart.
She revealed how doctors told her that if she hadn't been pregnant, her heart would have begun "malfunctioning", eventually leading to her death.
Fortunately, as Brittany was pregnant, the mother-of-two’s body was producing two litres of extra blood which was ultimately the only thing keeping her alive.
Five days after finding the mass, Brittany had to undergo open heart surgery.
“It was surreal,” Brittany, a makeup influencer, told NeedToKnow.online.
“I was completely blown away. I am fairly healthy and have been my whole life – I work out 4-5 times a week, and I stay pretty active.
“The worst thing that had ever happened to me was four stitches in my shin when I was 14 and getting one wisdom tooth removed.”
For Brittany, the first sign something was amiss came when she was around 36 weeks pregnant and felt breathless and suffered a bad cough – but she assumed it was simply a head cold.
After giving birth, she said she felt completely normal for a few days.
Mrs Locker, who also shares her son Nash, 5, with her husband Brad, 40, explained: “I had been home for a week and felt really great the first four days. On day five, day six, and day seven I had a pounding headache.
“On August 11, my family and I were taking newborn photos with the baby and I was off-balance holding her for a photo, and my photographer noticed that my eye was closed during the photos and asked me what was wrong.
“She kept telling me it sounded like I had bronchitis and that I needed to go to the ER because I had just given birth and there are a lot of things that can happen and that I didn’t need to play around with that.
“I immediately called my OB and they instructed me to go to urgent care.
"When I got to urgent care, as they were checking me in, one of the ladies came out of the office and said she had overheard my situation and instructed me to go straight to the emergency room since I was only seven days post-partum.
“That’s when I got scared.”
After X-ray and CT scans, Brittany was told they had found a large mass in her chest cavity and that it could potentially be cancer.
Brittany underwent blood tests and an MRI. A cardiothoracic surgeon showed her the scan images, which is when she understood the severity of her situation.
The MRI results found the mass was compressing 80% of the right side of her heart.
Brittany said: “The only reason I did not feel any of this was because when you are pregnant, women carry two extra litres of blood in their body.
“Every doctor this far had told me that being pregnant saved my life otherwise my heart would’ve been pumping irregularly and malfunctioning.”
Before treatment, the mum didn’t know if she would be able to continue feeding little Liv, and friends helped find over 900oz of donor milk to keep her going.
Brittany underwent surgery on 31 August to remove the mass. A biopsy found that it was thankfully a benign tumour, and doctors have assured her she is very unlikely to have further problems.
Now, Brittany is thankful to be on the road to recovery and embracing a new outlook on life.
She said: “Every day I feel a little bit stronger and a little bit more confident.
“The scar has messed with my head a little bit adjusting in terms of body image but I now have a daughter that I will teach to love her body no matter what happens and I am extremely grateful every day for being alive.
"Liv has shown me to not take another day for granted and that time is precious.
“Coincidentally I named my daughter Liv before I knew there was a problem at all. I feel incredibly blessed and what a story my daughter will have to tell the world!
“The message I have taken from all of this is to live, not take one day for granted: none of us is promised tomorrow.
“It has been a very emotional road but I am extremely thankful.”
Brittany now wants to encourage more women to speak up about their bodies and to always get checked out if they feel something "isn't right".
She added: "Advocate for yourself. I know I didn’t feel good after having Liv, something just felt off, so I went to the ER with a little bit of encouragement.
"Normally you don't go to the ER for lightheadedness, dizziness, nausea and a cough, but right after having a baby is a different story.
“You know your body. I am so glad I listened [to mine] and went."
