A couple of days ago Armando told us a very sad story, the hard story of a pregnant woman who gave up cancer treatment and died weeks after giving birth. Today we tell you the other side of the coin, a woman who today can enjoy her baby every day thanks to the advances of science.
A pregnant woman with severe heart disease manages to become a mother thanks to a pioneering operation made by a team from the Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona. She suffered a serious complication in pregnancy and had to intervene to save her life and that of her baby. I tell you the full story below.
Catalina, 28, was born with severe heart disease, a narrowing of the aortic valve that usually gets worse with pregnancy. Despite this, she decided to get pregnant with the control and all the necessary care.
At 20 weeks gestation doctors detected that the aortic valve that had been placed six years ago was failing earlier than expected (usually last 10 years). Before this, doctors had to find a safe solution for both her and the baby.
The abortion option has been considered, but the parents rejected it. The other option was not very hopeful, placing a mechanical valve that being an aggressive open heart operation was a high risk for her and the baby, which in 30% of cases does not survive.
Then came another solution: to replace the valve through the "valve in valve" technique (valve inside valve), a catheterization technique that the hospital had already performed on other patients, but for the first time in the world performed on a pregnant woman.
The operation was a success, the pregnancy came to an end and two months ago Otto was born. Although for a moment he thought it would be impossible to become a mother, today Catalina smiles happily with her baby in her arms. Of course, he said he would not run the same risk again, if you have another child, you will be adopted.
