MIRACLE MATERNAL DELIVERY
IT IS OFTEN said that “God does not give us more than we can take,” and that when things don’t turn out right for us, He has the ability to turn a ‘mess into a message’. The recent case of the miraculous delivery of a 19-year-old who presented at the GPHC with pre-eclampsia, which rapidly progressed to full-blown eclampsia, has come in for kudos from many who heard the story, at a time when the institution is taking a lot of flack following recent maternal deaths in the country.
Pre-eclampsia, also referred to as toxemia, is a condition common to young pregnant women, and is marked by high blood pressure, accompanied by a high level of protein in the urine. Eclampsia is a later stage, which is marked by seizure among other symptoms.
The teenaged mother — who hails from Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara, was pregnant for the first time, and hitherto in good health — was admitted to the GPHC on October 24, complaining of abdominal pains.
A few days before reaching full term, she presented with what the doctors diagnosed as pre-eclampsia, and soon after developed a seizure which triggered eclampsia. The doctors were forced to deliver the baby by Caesarean-section (also know as C-section), because of complications she had developed.
Within a few short days, she experienced multiple problems with her liver, kidney, lungs, blood, and brain, and coagulation, among other life-threatening complications. 
With timely and efficient intervention by the medical staff at the institution, who dedicatedly applied all the skills at their disposal, the life of the woman, who was on the threshold of death, was saved. Her organs were restored, and a few days later, she was giving God and the medical staff at the institution thanks and praises, not only for restoring her health, but for the safe delivery of a healthy baby boy.
Today, both mother and baby are enjoying good health, and the former is eagerly looking forward to returning home with the new-born ‘pride of her life’. 
Dr. Vishwamintra Persaud, Head of the team in whose care the 19-year- old was entrusted, modestly shared the hair-raising experience with the Sunday Chronicle.
“When checked,” he said, “the patient had alarmingly high blood pressure — 290/130; a point at which most people will develop a stroke — and proteins in her urine. She was edematous (swollen from excessive accumulation of fluid) as well. This condition is known as pre-eclampsia.
“As a result of this, the patient had to have urgent C-section, and the baby was delivered healthy.  However, the mother’s condition continued to get worse.
“Within twelve hours of delivery, it was noted that she was severely anemic; her hemoglobin (Hb) had gone down to 4, whereas the normal range for a woman going into labour is 12-15,” Dr. Persaud recalled. 
Relating the hair-raising encounter, Dr Persaud said: “Following delivery, the patient was taken back to surgery, where some two pints of blood were found in her abdominal cavity. At this time, the bleeding was attributed to two separate problems, all part and parcel of eclampsia: Low platelets, and low-coagulation factors [blood clotting to prevent blood loss from a ruptured vessel].”
This meant that the patient had now developed what is known in obstetrics as HELLP syndrome  —  Hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells) Elevated Liver (due to liver damage) and Low Platelets.  The result was that there was nothing to clot her blood, so she continued to bleed in her abdominal cavity, the doctor said.
“We opened her up and found two pints of blood in her peritona (behind the kidney), but this syndrome carries a worse prognosis…”
In order to check the bleeding, the doctors had to administer something called FFP (Fresh Frozen Plasma), a coagulant that helps with clotting.  Having put that into her body, her blood was then able to clot on its own.  A point to note is that Vitamin K could not have helped, since her liver at that time was not functioning.
A veteran of some 20 years in the field of medicine, Dr Persaud, who received his training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York, said: “After she had the C-section, there were multiple problems with her liver, kidneys, blood coagulation factors. And in what seemed like rapid succession, her kidneys had next begun to fail.
“With a lot of fluid in her lungs, she developed lung failure… and was unable to breathe on her own.  All of this had come about as a result of damage to the blood vessels of the lungs as well.”  She also had to be put on a ventilator.
It was a highly technical, but rather fulfilling task, Dr Persaud recalled.  “Each day we would micromanage; because there were so many organ systems involved, we had to literally go through each one of them and make very little changes. Because of the kidney failure, we had to constantly adjust the fluids we were giving her, because at times, the sodium level was low; at other times, her potassium was low, since her kidneys were not functioning normally.”
At the time of speaking (which was some days ago), Dr. Persaud, who returned home just last month to serve his country, noted that there was still work to be done on the patient’s liver to restore coagulation, and so she was still on FFP.   He also noted that during the time of crisis, her platelet count went from 400,000 down to 60,000. 
So swollen was the patient after developing eclampsia, she had taken on about three times her normal size, and had literally taken over the entire bed. 
Thanks to the efficiency of the doctors, that condition has now changed and she has resumed her normal size and shape.  She is now able to breathe normally, sleep without discomfort, and to eat (using a special diet), among other things. Her baby’s condition is normal, and he’s being cared for in the Maternity Ward, while the mother is warded in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).
Amazed and emotionally overwhelmed at all she been hearing about her close encounter with death, she expressed eternal gratitude to God and the doctors for saving her life and that of her baby. “I want to thank the doctors; the treatment in here is excellent,” the teenaged mother gratefully acknowledged, adding:
“Even though I am a Christian, I will now have to renew and strengthen my relationship with God, for He has delivered me from the devil’s plan to take my life.”
Persons at risk of pre-eclampsia include:  Teen first-time pregnancies, and women over 40, particularly those of African descent, Dr. Persaud said.  Other risk factors include:
* A history of high blood pressure prior to pregnancy.
* Previous history of pre-eclampsia.
* A history of pre-eclampsia in mother or sisters.
* Obesity prior to pregnancy.
* Carrying more than one baby.
* History of diabetes, kidney disease, lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis.