Serena Williams Was Bedridden For Six Weeks After Birth Of Daughter

In an interview with the US fashion magazine Vogue, Serena Williams speaks for the first time of the medical complications she faced during her daughter’s birth. She said Alexis was delivered by C-section after the baby’s heart-rate dropped.

Williams said becoming a mother had at times left her feeling “broken”. “Sometimes I get really down and feel like, man, I can’t do this,” she told the magazine. “It’s that same negative attitude I have on the court sometimes. I guess that’s just who I am.

“No one talks about the low moments – the pressure you feel, the incredible letdown every time you hear the baby cry. I’ve broken down I don’t know how many times. Or I’ll get angry about the crying, then sad about being angry, and then guilty, like, why do I feel so sad when I have a beautiful baby? The emotions are insane.”

In the interview, Williams spoke of her hope that her daughter would share her drive. “I think sometimes women limit themselves,” she said. “I’m not sure why we think that way, but I know that we’re sometimes taught to not dream as big as men, not to believe we can be a president or a CEO, when in the same household a male child is told he can be anything he wants.

“I’m so glad I had a daughter. I want to teach her that there are no limits.”