I had given birth to my second child, my daughter, about an hour prior to my experience. I had lost consciousness and my blood pressure fell dangerously low. My experience was brief. I found myself in a dark space and my peripheral vision was expanded. The space was intensely quiet and peaceful and completely void of color. I sensed, and in some way, saw beings surrounding me, as if I were in the center of an immeasurable, yet intimate circle. It seemed that the beings were silently and intently observing my situation. There was no drama, just quiet. I felt extremely content in this space. As soon as I experienced it, it was over.
I awoke to a nurse holding smelling-salts under my nose. I smacked her hand away from my face and thought to myself, ‘Just leave me alone! I am happy in this place! I want to go back!’ I felt like I was being disturbed and the farthest thing from my mind was my newborn daughter. I was extremely weak and could not stand. I was carried to the bed and wrapped in heated blankets. I was shaking uncontrollably. Through all of this, I felt completely safe, unshaken, and fearless. Truth be told, I have always been absolutely terrified of death. So for me to be anything short of panicked in a situation like this was completely out-of-character for me! Slowly, I bounced back by having oxygen, an IV, and warm blankets. I stopped shaking and eventually felt better.
I did not speak of my experience to anyone for many years.