Natasha Keys with her newborn Cedarian, while in the hospital after giving birth. Credit: Photo courtesy of Natasha Keys

For months, Katie Shappley was in denial about her symptoms. Despite difficulty breathing and odd tingles in her left arm, the daughter of a “hard-headed farmer man” didn’t go see a doctor until her headaches were bad enough to call off of work. 

When she finally went in, Shappley, who works in physician credentialing at the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Columbus, remembers the nurse practitioner being alarmed by her blood pressure reading. It was well above the normal range, which should be less than 120 over 80 mm Hg...