Serena's labour of love 'CHILDBIRTH NEARLY KILLED ME'

A new book brings back the trauma of her little girl Olympia's arrival

'I had a rough journey. I didn't do well and then I did. It's a lot of drama'

She's won 23 Grand Slams and broken S countless records during her stellar tennis career, but Serena Williams says she had to beg medical professionals to take her seriously when she knew something was desperately wrong after giving birth.

The world-class athlete has written a moving account of how her instincts took over after the arrival of her daughter Olympia by Caesarean section four years ago. Those instincts most likely saved her life.

"In 2010, I learned I had blood clots in my lungs - clots that, had they not been caught in time, could have killed me," Serena, 40, has explained in a piece written for a newly published collection of stories about women becoming mothers called Arrival Stories.

The clotting condition means the iconic tennis pro must take blood thinners for the rest of her life, but after giving birth by C-section in 2017, she needed to stop taking them to allow for her wound to heal.

Serena's girl Olympia has grown up on the courts.

Fearful after the operation that clots might already be forming, she mentioned her concerns to her nurses. However, she says, she was told, "That's not what you need to be on right now."

But Serena says, "Still, I felt it was important and kept pressing." She soon developed a cough, which turned out to be caused by a clot, and was rushed into emergency surgery.