Soft music plays as woman speaks. DHHS and CDC logo at bottom of screen.

Valencia: Being a mom is everything to me. It is truly the most amazing feeling in the world to have someone that depends on you, someone that loves you unconditionally, that you can love unconditionally.

I want to share my story to help other women speak up and be heard.

Text on screen, "Valencia's Story." Hear Her logo.

Valencia: My daughter is six years old, and she's sassy.

When I first found out I was pregnant with Peyton, I was extremely excited. It was one of the happiest moments of my life to know that I would be bringing a little person into the world. 

I had one of the worst pregnancies ever. My symptoms started around two months. It was fairly early my pregnancy. So, I had a long time to have a very tough pregnancy. I didn't have what I needed, the tools. I didn't know who to talk to or how to talk or how to speak up for myself. I would have a lot of pain that I just couldn't explain. Because it was my first pregnancy, I always assumed that it was just normal and everyone tells you every pregnancy is different. So, you just assume that it's part of pregnancy, your body's changing. You're going through so many different changes that you're not aware of or something you've never been through before. So, you just assume maybe it comes with the territory.

I talked to a lot of different people. I tried to talk to my doctor. I even talked to my primary care physician, who's not even my OB, just to get information, did a lot of research and a lot of Googling.

I was scared. I was scared a lot of the time, because I just felt like no one heard me. I was having headaches. I would be dizzy a lot. I would experience a lot of pain. And I just knew things weren't normal.

My primary care doctor advocated for me a lot to switch my doctor. Had it not been for my primary care physician pushing and advocating for me, and even, you know, friends and family, a lot of people just said that it's not normal, and if you feel that something is wrong, then there more than likely is something wrong.

It's extremely important to hear women, because you don't know what they're feeling, but they do.

Hear her.

Onscreen: Learn more at cdc.gov/HearHer.

Music fades as video ends.