‘I Literally Thought I Was Going To Die’: Pregnant Woman Credits Her Apple Watch With Saving Her Life

A California woman is crediting her smartwatch with likely saving both her life and the life of her new baby after it issued multiple alerts during her high-risk pregnancy.

Jesse Kelly, 39, said she wasn’t doing anything strenuous when her Apple Watch alerted her that her heart rate was high a few weeks prior to her due date. “I had been laying in bed, not feeling well,” she told CBS Los Angeles on Friday. “I didn’t know if it was my morning sickness coming back … or if it was my son’s stomach flu.” Kelly’s pregnancy was at a higher risk than usual because of her age, the outlet continued.

Kelly said she dismissed the watch’s first warning as a fluke, but that the watch alerted her again after 10 minutes, and then again after about 30, consistently telling her she had a high heart rate. “When it went off the third time I thought ‘OK something is going on,'” she told the outlet.

A mom says she and her baby could have died if it wasn’t for a warning she got from an unlikely source. https://t.co/F0L4jPYMvP

— WKYT (@WKYT) January 20, 2023

Kelly went to the hospital, where she learned that not only was she fully in labor, but she was also experiencing a pregnancy complication known as placenta abruption. Her blood pressure was dropping quickly and she was losing blood, the outlet reported. “I literally thought I was going to die,” she told CBS. “There were so many doctors and stuff in there.”

Kelly gave birth to a healthy baby girl three hours later.

Cardiologist Dr. Brian Kolski told CBS he has patients who are prescribed Apple Watches to help them monitor certain heart conditions, and he praised Kelly for listening to her own device. “Sounds like it was accurate,” Kolski said, according to the outlet. “And one of the first signs when people are in trouble, whether it’s low blood pressure [or] bleeding, is an elevated heart rate.” (RELATED: 10-Year-Old Girl Named Miracle Helps Mom Deliver Her Baby Sister)

Kelly advised anyone with a smartwatch to heed the warnings it gives.”It’s not just a text message. Pay attention to it and listen to your body,” she told CBS.