A doctor has spoken of the ‘bittersweet’ feeling of successfully delivering the baby of a woman who had been shot, and later passed away.
Dr Renee DeNolf, a second-year resident at California’s Kaweah Delta, recalled ‘running from one end of the hospital to the other’ in a bid to save the dying mother’s tot.
Vanessa Oviedo, 27, was 35 weeks pregnant when she was shot in a drive-by shooting, on Thursday. It is believed that the incident was gang-related.
According to ABC, the pregnant victim was in cardiac arrest by the time she arrived at the hospital, and Dr DeNolf and the rest of her team geared up to perform a peri-mortem Caesarean section.
A peri-mortem C-section occurs where the patient is about to die, and the chances of delivering the baby alive are always incredibly slim.
It was particularly daunting for Dr DeNolf, who had only ever practiced the procedure in a simulation.
“I got my scalpel out…My attendant said, ‘Cut’, so I cut,” she told the local media outlet.
The team then had just seconds to get the baby boy out of his mother’s womb.
While it didn’t look good for the tot initially, doctors eventually found a pulse and were able to stabilise him. He is now said to be doing ‘really well’.
Tragically, the team were unable to save the baby’s mother.
“That’s what makes it such a bittersweet case. That is something I will never take for granted,” said Dr DeNolf.
Well done to the team for saving this precious little life. We’re wishing him all the best after this traumatic start to life.
