LetsTalk PPCM, Grand Prairie, TX (2026)

02/24/2026

Meet Carrie Landwehr:
By looking at the photo above, could you believe she was in full-blown heart failure?

Residing in New Jersey, Carrie was healthy, active, and fit before her pregnancy. Just one month prior to conceiving, she had established care with a cardiologist due to her father’s history of early heart failure. Every baseline test came back perfect. There were no warning signs, nothing to suggest what was about to unfold.

Throughout pregnancy, extreme and ongoing stress took its toll. During the final trimester, new symptoms began to surface: chest pain, severe swelling in the legs and feet, and shortness of breath so intense she could barely speak without gasping for air. Alarmed, she sought care multiple times, visiting both the ER and Labor & Delivery. Each visit focused on checking the baby’s heartbeat. Each time, she was sent home.

About 3wks before her due date, blood pressure began rising at weekly OB appointments. Doctors decided to induce labor. What followed was nearly two days of labor, much of it unmedicated due to a failed epidural. When the urge to push finally came, everything changed. Her lungs began filling with fluid, and she struggled desperately to breathe. When she asked the nurses if this was normal, she was told no.

An emergency C-section was called as oxygen levels dropped into the low 70s. During and after surgery, doctors rushed in and out, ordering scans and running tests while she felt the life draining from her body. At just 24 years old, she truly felt something bad was happening. She was transferred to the ICU, and separated from her newborn daughter.

She was later diagnosed with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a form of dilated cardiomyopathy that can develop during pregnancy or up to one year postpartum and can be life-threatening if left undetected.

Today, she is considered fully recovered. She strongly believes that early BNP testing and echocardiograms at the first signs of symptoms could prevent stories like hers from becoming near-fatal tragedies.

👉 Visit https://letstalkppcm.org/share-your-story-1
to share your PPCM story and help raise awareness.

02/21/2026

❤️ Heart Month + PPCM Awareness

February is Heart Month, and while we focus on adult heart health, it’s also a perfect time to help create the next generation of heart aware kids.

Postpartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM) affects moms, often silently, but awareness starts early. Teaching children about the heart builds empathy, understanding, and life-long health awareness.

📊 What we’re still seeing in 2026

• Symptoms often start late pregnancy through 6 months postpartum
• Shortness of breath, swelling, chest pressure, persistent cough ≠ normal postpartum
• Black women and women with pregnancy complications remain at higher risk
• Simple tools like symptom screening + BNP blood tests can help flag risk early

⚠️ Why it Matters
Teaching kids about the heart, both physically and emotionally, helps shape a generation that:
• Recognizes signs of heart struggles
• Understands empathy for people with heart conditions
• Values heart health from the start

📚 Support Kids in Awareness
Your support helps us provide free children’s books for PPCM and heart health awareness to families, hospitals, and communities.

🔗 https://letstalkppcm.org/children-books

02/16/2026

Meet Renee and Ellie:
By looking at the photo above, could you believe they were in full-blown heart failure?

Renee lived in Tennessee and gave birth to her daughter on October 12, 1994. The following day, everything changed. She coded twice, and her family was suddenly facing the unthinkable. Doctors worked urgently to save her life while her parents watched, unsure whether they would lose their daughter only one day after she became a mother.

Over the years that followed, she lived as a young mother while quietly battling a failing heart. Her family was told she might not survive her first year, yet she went on to live eight more years. When she passed away at just 28 years old, her parents then stepped into another role, raising her eight-year-old child as their own. Her mother made sure to gather and preserve every medical record, sensing they might one day be important.

Years later, those records became heartbreakingly relevant. The baby girl in the photo grew up, started a family of her own, and became pregnant with her second child in 2022. She had not experienced complications with her first pregnancy, but this time something felt wrong. Months before her baby boy was born, she began having symptoms and sought medical care repeatedly. She made multiple visits to the emergency room and to her primary care physician, reporting shortness of breath and swelling. Each time, she was dismissed.

She knew her family history. She recognized the symptoms. Still, she was told it was asthma. She was told it was smoking. No one listened. When her baby was nearly five months old, she returned to the emergency room and refused to leave until doctors found the cause. By then, her heart was already failing. Three years after her diagnosis, she told her family she felt unwell.

Both passing away from the same condition, Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a form of dilated cardiomyopathy that can strike during pregnancy or in the first year postpartum, often with life-threatening consequences if left undetected.

Today, Renee and Ellie's family now hopes to pursue genetic testing to protect the next generation. They strongly believe the BNP blood test should be standard for at-risk pregnant and postpartum mothers to help detect PPCM sooner.❤️‍🩹

Visit: https://letstalkppcm.org/share-your-story-1
to share your PPCM story and help raise awareness.

02/14/2026

Thank you Saint Luke's Health System, for helping us increase awareness for this dreadful condition. Learn more: https://letstalkppcm.org 💝

02/12/2026

Heart disease is the leading cause of maternal death in the U.S. ❤️‍🩹

Some mothers, especially those in historically underserved communities, face higher risks due to delayed diagnosis, bias, and unequal access to care.

Every mother deserves to be heard.
Every symptom deserves to be taken seriously.
Equitable care saves lives.

We routinely screen pregnant women for:

•Gestational diabetes

•Anemia

•Group B strep

•Blood pressure issues

But we don't routinely perform deeper cardiovascular risk screening unless someone is already labeled “high risk.”

That means many women, especially BIPOC, enter pregnancy with:

•Undiagnosed hypertension

•Early-stage heart dysfunction

•Prior viral heart damage

•Obesity-related cardiac strain

•Autoimmune or inflammatory conditions

•A family history of heart disease

… and no one looks closely unless something dramatic happens.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Pregnancy places enormous stress on the heart:

•Blood volume increases up to 50%

•Cardiac output increases

•Fluid shifts rapidly after delivery

•Hormonal changes affect vascular tone

If there is underlying cardiac vulnerability, pregnancy can be the “stress test” that exposes it, sometimes too late.

THE GAP

There is no universal:

•Baseline echocardiogram

•BNP screening

•Structured cardiovascular risk scoring for all pregnant patients

•Standard extended postpartum cardiac follow-up

•Instead, care is often reactive, not preventative.

When you combine under-screening with delayed response, outcomes worsen.

WHAT COULD BE DONE:

✔️ Early cardiovascular risk assessment at first prenatal visit

✔️ Clear referral pathways to cardiology

✔️ Postpartum monitoring beyond 6 weeks

✔️ Automatic follow-up for anyone with preeclampsia or hypertensive disorders

✔️ Education on cardiac red flags during discharge

Visit: https://letstalkppcm.org/share-your-story-1
to share your PPCM story and help raise awareness.

02/08/2026

Meet Ivy Bonilla:
By looking at the photo above, could you believe she was in full-blown heart failure?

Residing in Virginia, Ivy complained of persistent elevated heart rate, palpitations, shortness of breath, and exercise intolerance throughout pregnancy. She repeatedly asked her OB provider for a cardiology referral but was told her symptoms were normal for pregnancy. While working night shift, her Apple Watch alerted a possible atrial fibrillation episode. Coworkers noticed she was pale, breathing rapidly, and appeared in distress, leading to an emergency evaluation. In the Emergency Department, her heart rate remained in the 100s, and testing showed sinus tachycardia.

No cardiac labs, BNP testing, or EKG monitoring were performed through her OB clinic during pregnancy.
As pregnancy progressed, symptoms worsened. She developed severe shortness of breath, difficulty walking, and extreme swelling in her legs and feet. By the end of workdays, her feet were severely swollen, and she experienced significant pain with walking. She requested medical leave because she did not feel safe continuing to work but was denied due to not having a formal diagnosis despite multiple emergency visits and ongoing symptoms.

She required an emergency C-section when her condition became critical and unsafe for both her and her baby. After delivery, her condition rapidly declined. She was diagnosed with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a form of dilated cardiomyopathy that can strike during pregnancy or in the first year postpartum, often with life-threatening consequences if left undetected. Her ejection fraction dropped to 10%, meaning her heart was barely pumping. Her BNP reached 6,036, showing severe heart strain, and her troponin was 22, showing heart muscle injury. She was given proper care and treatment and released home with monitoring.

Despite everything, she was finally reunited with her baby girl, their first bonding moment during a life-threatening medical crisis.

Today, Ivy continues her recovery journey. She strongly believes the BNP blood test should be standard for at-risk pregnant and postpartum mothers to help detect PPCM sooner and save lives.❤️

Visit: https://letstalkppcm.org/share-your-story-1
to share your PPCM story and help raise awareness.

02/06/2026

Today is Go Red for Women Day ❤️

Today we wear red not just for awareness… but for every woman fighting, surviving, and thriving through heart disease.

We are honored to highlight our PPCM heart moms who courageously shared their RED in our story section.

Their journeys remind us that postpartum cardiomyopathy is real, life-changing, and often overlooked, but survivorship, strength, and hope are powerful.

These women are more than survivors. They are mothers, fighters, advocates, and voices helping save lives through awareness.

❤️ Heart disease is the number 1 killer of women.

❤️ PPCM can happen during the last month of pregnancy or months after delivery.

❤️ Awareness, early diagnosis, and community support saves lives.

Today, we encourage you to:

🔴 Wear red
🔴 Share survivor stories
🔴 Check on a mom
🔴 Learn the warning signs
🔴 Help us continue spreading awareness

To our PPCM survivors, we SEE you, we HONOR you, and we celebrate your strength today and every day.

📖 Visit our story section to see heart moms in action.

🛍️ Reminder: Our awareness products and educational materials are discounted during Heart Month.

02/05/2026

Shout out to KidZania USA for inspiring and empowering children to explore technology, creativity, and critical thinking through engaging, age-appropriate learning experiences that prepare them for the future! 💝

The kids were able to learn about heart transplants, and even perform one on a simulated patient. Experiences like this spark curiosity, build empathy, and open the door to important conversations about heart health and lifesaving care.

During Heart Month, this message hits especially close to home. Many mothers impacted by Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM) ultimately require heart transplants to survive. Awareness and education, starting early, can truly save lives.

In honor of Black History Month and Heart Month, our children’s books, magazines, and other PPCM awareness products are discounted for a limited time this month. 🛍️

🖤🫀📚 https://letstalkppcm.org/shop-with-us

Every purchase helps amplify maternal heart health voices and supports lifesaving education and advocacy.

Thank you, KidZania, for helping inspire the next generation of changemakers.

02/03/2026

LetsTalkPPCM Receives Grant Award from The Rota Foundation!!!🎊

We are grateful to share our thanks to The Rota Foundation for awarding a grant to LetsTalkPPCM in support of our ongoing mission.

Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM), is an often misdiagnosed life-threatening form of heart failure that occurs during late pregnancy or up to one year postpartum. Many families affected by PPCM face extended recovery periods, loss of income, and gaps in postpartum care.

This opportunity helps strengthen our work to raise awareness, provide education, and advocate for families affected by Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM).

We appreciate The Rota Foundation’s support and commitment to maternal heart health, which allows us to continue serving our community with care and integrity.

Visit: https://letstalkppcm.org/share-your-story-1 to share your PPCM story and help save lives.

02/01/2026

Meet Destiny:
Would you believe that in the photo above, she was in full-blown heart failure.

During her second pregnancy, Destiny began experiencing persistent tachycardia early on. A BNP blood test at the time was normal, offering reassurance. But as pregnancy progressed, her body started sending warning signs, a chronic cough, extreme swelling, constant shortness of breath, and exhaustion that made everyday tasks feel impossible. After a traumatic delivery in September 2025, postpartum life became overwhelming. Caring for a newborn and a preschooler while barely sleeping, she pushed through what she believed were normal postpartum symptoms. She couldn’t lie flat to sleep, had to sit upright just to breathe, and grew more short of breath by the day.

By the week of Halloween, she knew something was wrong. While changing her newborn’s diaper one night, she suddenly couldn’t catch her breath and became dizzy. Her fiancé rushed her to the emergency room, a decision that saved her life. Testing revealed her heart was failing. Her BNP had risen to over 3,000, and her ejection fraction was just 25–30%. She was diagnosed with Postpartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a form of dilated cardiomyopathy that can strike during pregnancy or in the first year postpartum, often with life-threatening consequences if left undetected.

With treatment and close medical care, her numbers began to improve. Her ejection fraction increased to 30–35%, and her BNP dropped to 82, a sign of hope and healing. Later, genetic testing in her family revealed a heart-related gene that may have played a role, giving her family the opportunity to be proactive for future generations.

Today, Destiny is still on her road to recovery. She believes BNP testing, genetic screening, and cardiac evaluation should be considered when pregnant or postpartum women feel something isn’t right, because one simple test can save a life.❤️‍🩹

🎥 Full story:
https://youtu.be/B9c4beRYOTs?si=NWWxra1ga9R5MRCW

Visit: https://letstalkppcm.org/share-your-story-1 to share your PPCM story and help save lives.

01/27/2026

NEW PPCM AWARENESS SHIRTS ARE HERE! ❤️‍🩹

With Heart Month right around the corner, we’re proud to introduce our new Heart Mom Shirts — created to honor the strength, resilience, and courage of mothers affected by Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM).

Strong Hearts. Fierce Moms.

These shirts are more than apparel, they’re a way to start conversations, spread awareness, and remind heart moms everywhere that they are seen, supported, and never alone 🫂

In addition, our late heart sister Kayla's family has created beautiful PPCM awareness bracelets to help support this mission and continue spreading awareness in her honor. Their love and dedication mean so much to this community.

🫶 Please consider supporting both efforts as we head into Heart Month:

👕 PPCM Awareness Shirts:
https://letstalkppcm.org/shop-with-us/ols/products/heart-mom-shirts

💖 Awareness Bracelets:
https://heartmomppcm.com/

Every share, every purchase, and every conversation helps bring awareness to PPCM, together, we can make a difference.

Visit: https://letstalkppcm.org/share-your-story-1 to share your PPCM story and help save lives.

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