At 52, mother and her newborn doing great following Sentara delivery

After facing a high-risk pregnancy, Louise Fife gave birth to a baby boy who, like her, is now happy and healthy.

Louise and her husband Phillip were new to the area. Louise, 52, was pregnant with the couple’s first child. A friend recommended the OB/GYN practice About Women, and soon, Louise was seeing Dr. Baraty, a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“In medical school, I was always drawn to professions which were surgically based. In obstetrics, it’s usually the only time a patient is excited about coming to the doctors’ office and really looking forward to seeing their doctor,” explains Dr. Baraty. “With gynecology, I am working with patients of all ages through the well-woman visits and making sure they are healthy and happy, or in problem visits getting them back to being healthy and happy with medical or surgical treatments.”

Louise dealt with high blood pressure issues throughout her pregnancy and was carefully monitored. Dr. Baraty worked with the perinatologist, a doctor who specializes in complicated, high-risk pregnancies, to make sure both the mother and baby were healthy.

As Dr. Baraty explains, high-risk pregnancies generally have one or more of the following four components:

• existing conditions such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and the like
• complications from a previous pregnancy
• multiple gestations (i.e. twins, triplets, etc.)
• fetal problems or birth defects

Louise’s high blood pressure led to several overnight stays at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.

“My wife was admitted to the hospital a couple of times for monitoring. Plus, we had several 24-hour screens to determine if there were any issues with pre-eclampsia,” remembers Phillip. “Blood work was continuously being done. The team was wonderful, assuring my wife that her organs, liver, and everything was performing very well for her age and for her being pregnant, but her blood pressure was the biggest issue.”

Louise was admitted at 28 weeks and then again at 32 weeks. Soon after that, she was admitted a third time, after her blood pressure increased. Doctors discovered signs of pre-eclampsia, a potentially dangerous pregnancy complication. The decision was made for early delivery.

On April 25, at 33 weeks and five days, Noah River was born by caesarian section. He weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces. Both the mother and baby did well.

“She had a bit of anxiety with the spinal block, but the anesthesiologist, Amy, was wonderful. She was with us the whole time and did a great job of calming my wife. It was a very positive experience,” said Phillip.

The delivery team at the Women’s Health Center at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, along with a neonatologist from Children’s National who supports the NICU, was ready for Noah’s arrival.

For two weeks, Noah received expert, specialized care in the NICU – learning to eat on his own and growing more every day. The new family was able to head home before Mother’s Day, where Phillip and Noah made sure to celebrate the new mom in their family.

Nearly a month after his birth, Noah is thriving. Phillip reports that he’s eating constantly, and at his first pediatrician visit, he already weighed 5 pounds and 9 ounces. Louise is also doing great.

The family is thankful to the team at Sentara even presenting the nurses in Labor and Delivery, Postpartum and the NICU with flowers and card of appreciation.

“The care we received was wonderful. It was really nice knowing my wife and Noah were in good hands,” said Phillip.