One mum has revealed a horrifying photo of the 20 giant blood clots that were found in her right leg.
Starla Ellis, who hails from Ohio in the US, said her third child, Amaris, was a 'whopping' 9lb 10.5oz and got 'stuck' when she was giving birth in November.
Due to the complication, doctors had to perform an emergency c-section.
Advert
After going home from the hospital, the mum-of-three began to experience a 'burning ache' in her lower back, which then moved to her abdomen and into her right leg.
Starla, 30, first thought the pain she felt was her body releasing her pregnancy hormones and readjusting in the weeks after giving birth to her son.
She said: "The pain [in my leg after the c-section] was pretty persistent and kept getting worse and I went to the emergency room."
Advert
But when the pain became 'excruciating', she went to hospital where she claims she was told she had one blood clot in the femoral artery in her right leg and was given blood thinners and sent home.
Recounting that day, Starla explained: "At this point, the pain was excruciating. I couldn't move and I had to almost crawl to the car to go to the hospital.
"They ran some tests and found a clot in my femoral artery and they gave me a blood thinner and they told me to just follow up with my doctor in a week and sent me home.
Advert
"As they discharged me I was quite concerned as I had a numbing feeling in my leg but I just ignored this as the hospital said I was good to leave."
Initially, the mum thought the medication was working, saying: "At first, I thought the blood thinners were working. I tried to push through as the hospital had cleared me but by that night I was back on the floor.
"My leg was completely stiff at this point and I couldn't bend it. Complete terror was going through my head and I thought I might lose my leg."
Advert
After this, Starla visited another hospital for a second opinion two days later.
She recalled: "I decided to go to a different ER at another hospital to get a second opinion."
There, she says she underwent an ultrasound where she was told she actually had 20 clumps in her leg and they needed to be surgically removed immediately.
Advert
Starla continued: "I had a fever at this point and I was given pain medicine but it did not help at all as the pain was so bad.
"I was then sent up to the blood and vascular department and they ran some tests on me and did an ultrasound on my leg and they realised that the clots were a lot worse.
"I was terrified and I didn't think I was going to make it out [of hospital]."
After being shown a photo of the 20 clots removed from her leg, she said she 'broke down' at the sight of them.
"I broke down when I saw how many blood clots were in my leg as I didn't realise it was that bad," the mum added.
She said that seeing a photo of all the blood clots put it into perspective of how bad it was and 'how close it was to me losing my life'.
The mum carried on: "Not only did the photo of the 20 blood clots shock me, it hurt my feelings that the previous doctor let me walk out of the hospital."
Starla said: "You need to stay persistent with your doctor with your healthcare and they don't always seem to be as worried as you are.
"You know your body and if you feel like something is wrong you need to get it checked out.
"Make sure you follow up with your doctor as blood clots can be fatal."
While it remains unclear what caused the clots, Starla claims a doctor told her the blood clots could have been caused by possible c-section complications.
According to the NHS, blood clots can be very serious and need to be treated quickly.
Rhiannon Ingle