Denton County Magazine • Sept_Oct 23 • Nikki Johnson

Denton mother uses her medical nightmare to increase blood donations throughout the county.

Nikki Johnson was enjoying her perfectly healthy pregnancy when a simple twist of fate nearly cost her family everything. At 39 weeks pregnant, Johnson’s baby girl was measuring large and her OBGYN scheduled a routine induction.

“Just moments after they broke my water, my midwife left the room, and I told my nurse that something didn’t feel right,” said Johnson, who works as a financial analyst for the Denton County Treasurer’s office. Within seconds Johnson fainted. Her firefighter paramedic husband, Devon Johnson, later informed her that she turned gray and went into respiratory arrest. “At that point our baby wasn’t getting any oxygen, and they performed an emergency C-section to save us both,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s medical team desperately fought to save her from a profuse postpartum hemorrhage that required 31 units of blood. Meanwhile her newborn daughter was born with critically low APGAR scores, a clinical test that assesses a newborn baby’s health. While Johnson was intubated, sedated and admitted to the intensive care unit, her baby was flown to Medical City Plano in hopes that cooling therapy could slow the progression of the medical mystery that threatened both mother and child.

After a battery of tests to assess what had gone wrong, Johnson was informed she had experienced amniotic fluid embolism (AFE), a sudden and unexpected life-threatening birth complication that can affect both mother and baby. While little is known about the disorder, it is thought to be an allergic reaction to the amniotic fluid entering the bloodstream during labor. This normal part of the birth process can be deadly for those who develop AFE as tiny blood clots form in the mother’s bloodstream. The sudden influx of blood clots depletes clotting factors, causing maternal bleeding and the heart and lung fail from the medical cascade.

When Johnson was removed from intubation and the medically induced coma, she realized just how close to death she came. “I didn’t meet my daughter until she was 8 days old,” Johnson said.

Once home, Johnson began to process just how quickly she could have lost the chance to know her daughter at all. According to the Amniotic Fluid Embolism Foundation, AFE occurs in one of every 40,000 births. Out of 4 million deliveries in the United States each year, approximately 100 women may suffer an amniotic fluid embolism. Of those 100 women, up to 40% can die from complications.

“My daughter and I survived astronomical odds; that would not have happened without the blood transfusions that saved my life,” Johnson said.

Blood banks nationwide are experiencing crisis-level shortages of blood. Johnson is determined to change that. She rallies support by sharing her story, serving local hospitals as a patient family ambassador, and hosting blood drives through the American Red Cross. She has rallied her fellow Denton County employees to join in, too. Johnson held her first blood drive eight months after experiencing her life-saving blood transfusions. The success of that drive spurred her on to continue raising awareness for the critical need. Dec. 30 will mark Johnson’s second community blood drive.

“There are a lot of misunderstandings about who can donate, and the process involved,” Johnson said. “Blood donation can take less than 15 minutes and save a life.”

The American Red Cross conducts medical prescreening to ensure the safety of all donors and recipients. Those interested can sign up to donate in advance and donors can track their donation to see the true impact of their lifesaving gift of blood.

For more information, go to https://www.redcrossblood. org/give.html/drive-results? zipSponsor=JohnsonFamily.

“I’ve always felt drawn to adopting children. My husband and I have recently started the process to be approved to adopt children out of the foster care system.”