I’ve always found it hard to pin down exactly where I fit as an artist as I just love to create in as many ways as possible but recently I have settled into the labels of artist and maker. My practice spans from gallery installation and conceptual work to heirloom dolls and illustrations. Currently I’m focusing on my etsy shop and creating affordable art.

Thank you, that means a lot to me! This sticker has multifaceted meaning. I created it knowing I wanted to create an illustration to raise awareness of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy but it can also hold meaning to all mothers.

It shows a full term baby cradled within an anatomical heart as though in a womb. Since becoming a mother I’ve been interested in the relationship between mother and child and I read an article than really struck me, it stated that DNA from a foetus continues to reside in the mother long after delivery. Sometimes decades after pregnancy. Which means that every child we carry continues to be part of us.

I thought this was beautiful, as it means that every baby, even those that never made it earth side will always be with their mothers. I wanted my illustration to communicate this in addition to raising awareness of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM).

This sticker illustration has a great deal of meaning to me as I am a survivor of peripartum cardiomyopathy. In addition to raising awareness of PPCM, I hope to raise money to help in research towards the understanding of the condition. PPCM is a uncommon pregnancy related heart failure affecting between 1 in 1000 and 1 in 3000 pregnancies. It is a form of dilated Cardiomyopathy that can develop from the third trimester up to 5 months post partum.

The condition causes the avoidable deaths of many women, often being missed due to symptoms being disregarded as ‘normal symptoms of pregnancy’. Personally I was blue lighted to hospital 4 days post partum with crippling chest pains, trembling, an unexplained dry cough and swelling. I couldnt breathe when laying flat and would wake gasping desperately for breath. I was readmitted into hospital and had many tests and observations every 4 hours, until finally being diagnosed with PPCM.

I was lucky in that my PPCM was relatively mild and I could go home with medication, a low salt diet and a promise to avoid exerting myself. I’ve heard accounts from other survivors, and their families, of ICU admissions, heart transplants, cardiac arrests and deaths. All in mothers that were either still pregnant, or had newly become mothers. For me the thought of leaving my fiance and new born baby boy was devastating. It terrified me to think that I’d just given birth to a little boy who would grow up without a mother, never knowing just how much I loved him.

Peripartum Cardiomyopathy, PPCM is still fairly unknown, with some doctors never having heard of it. Research is sparse, most of which having been conducted by an amazing Cardiologist, James Fett, who has dedicated his life to studying the condition and saving mothers and their babies. He continues to support survivors via a Facebook support page despite retiring last year.

I decided to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation as they are currently conducting the first UK study into the condition and I hope to help towards this worthwhile research however I can. It is vital that we collectively learn more about the condition to ensure midwives, GP’s and obstetricians are aware of the symptoms to save the lives of the mothers that develop the condition.

This sticker can be purchased directly from my Facebook artist page, Instagram page or through my Etsy shop.

Facebook: Rachel Olin – Artist

Instagram: RachelOlinArtist
My full account of my experience can be read here.