Navigating High-Risk Pregnancies with the Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic: Helina’s Story
Humber’s Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic provides accessible and essential care for women experiencing higher-risk pregnancies and for patients with underlying health barriers who wish to become pregnant.
Helina was 31 and pregnant with her first child when she first came to Humber River Health’s Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) Clinic.
“I was looking for an obstetrician that would listen to me and help me along the journey, since it is my first time,” says Helina. After completing an ultrasound that showed that her baby was measuring smaller than the baby’s gestational age, she was referred to Dr. Howard Berger, an OBGYN and MFM Specialist at Humber River Health.
Humber’s MFM Clinic provides accessible and essential care for women experiencing higher-risk pregnancies and for patients with underlying health barriers who wish to become pregnant.
“As an OBGYN and high-risk specialist, I proudly lead the clinic, along with two nurses. The clinic has been a great success!,” says Dr. Berger.
At the time of her referral to the MFM clinic, Helina was 24-25 weeks along her pregnancy and Dr. Berger could not pinpoint why the baby was so small. They decided the best course of action was to monitor the baby very closely. She started getting ultrasounds every 2 weeks as the doctors continued to monitor the baby’s growth.
“At first, I thought it may have been a genetic component as my husband was a fairly tiny baby as well,” says Helina.
It was determined that the baby had a placenta blockage. This blockage resulted in insufficient nutrients being delivered to the baby, hence the small size. Dr. Berger and the team at the MFM Clinic decided to move monitoring to weekly.
“As an OBGYN and high-risk specialist, I proudly lead the clinic, along with two nurses. The clinic has been a great success!,” says Dr. Berger.
“Dr. Berger and the rest of the team continued to monitor my baby very closely to make sure that enough oxygen was being delivered,” says Helina.
Nearly 37 weeks later, Helina started having high blood pressure, a dangerous situation for both mother and baby. She was admitted to Humber where her attending doctor recommended that she be induced immediately.
After being induced and moved into the birthing unit, Helina was put on oxytocin and monitored closely.
“My body was still not going into labour, so they increased my dosage,” says Helina. “At some point, the dosage was so high, my baby’s heartbeat was going into distress.”
The doctors lowered her dosage, but her body was still not going into labour. After repeating the process a couple more times, the doctor recommended a C-Section.
“I knew that this was the most likely scenario, because the team could not keep increasing the dosage and repeating the process,” says Helina. “It would just put my child and I at risk.”
After her son Ezana was born, he was transferred to the NICU. Nurses regularly provided Helina and her husband updates about their son throughout the night. This kindness and support from the nurses, along with the quick and considerate action of her attending physicians during this stressful time was what made their Humber journey special.
“My husband and I are very appreciative of everyone that helped us at Humber,” says Helina. “From the MFM Clinic, to the Labour & Delivery team and the NICU, thank you!”
Helina and her husband are grateful for the support of the MFM Clinic. “It was much better that we knew early on, and were prepared. For every decision, it felt like we were in control,” says Helina.
After 2 weeks of trips back and forth to the hospital, Helina’s son was taken off the ventilator and was able to go home with his parents. After an incredible journey, and thanks to the help of their team at Humber, they could all go home together to start their new life as a family.
“My husband and I are very appreciative of everyone that helped us at Humber,” says Helina. “From the MFM Clinic, to the Labour & Delivery team and the NICU, thank you!”
Please note: Images have been changed for the comfort of Helina and her family
If you would like to learn more about our Maternal & Child Program and how you can support our MFM Clinic Expansion, please contact Shelly Koren at skoren@hrh.ca
A Star is Born
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