Serena Williams Admits She Was “Terrified” Of Giving Birth

Any woman can tell you giving birth is an extremely overwhelming experience, especially with all of the information out there about what's right and what's wrong when it comes to the process. Serena Williams has recently opened up about how the thought of giving birth "terrified" her.

The 37-year-old says she wanted to keep her 2-year-old daughter, Olympia, inside her belly forever. She admits to doing so much research about the birthing process that it scared her.

"I met with this company, 'Mommy and Me', which I invested in a while ago, and they are really bringing help and information to moms after they [give] birth," Williams said at an Advertising Week panel. "You get so much information before [having a baby], I was overloaded by what to do. So much so that I was frightened when it came time to give birth. I was like, 'You know what, I'm just not gonna do it.'"

In the end, Williams had a complicated birthing experience. She had to have an emergency C-section along with life-threatening complications that resulted in another emergency surgery to prevent blood clots from traveling to her lungs.

"One minute, everything's going according to plan, and then I'm being wheeled off for surgery. I was terrified, and it was a whole new kind of fear," said Williams.

She also revealed that the difficult birthing experience led to postpartum depression.

"I remember one day, I couldn't find Olympia's bottle and I got so upset I started crying... because I wanted to be perfect for her," admits Williams.

The tennis star is now using her difficult experience to inform her investment choices. She recently invested in Mahmee, a startup working to bridge gaps in pre- and postpartum care.