Hospital proves lifesaver
Staff moved fast to help bub and mum
A MAREEBA family has praised the quick thinking of medical staff at the town’s hospital for saving the life of their newborn baby boy and his mum.
Pregnant with their second child, Lee and Heidi Xhafer were booked in for a caesarean at Cairns Hospital on July 13.
But things didn’t go to plan when Mrs Xhafer experienced a complete uterine rupture late on July 8. She had undergone an emergency caesarean with her first son, two-year-old Levi, giving birth at 27.5 weeks, and her scar had opened up.
“I was just at home and I couldn’t get off the couch and it was agony all of a sudden and every time I had to move,” she said.
After calling her midwife, Mrs Xhafer was taken to Mareeba Hospital by ambulance.
She said the medical staff did a phenomenal job in assessing her and ultimately saving her life and that of her baby boy about three weeks ago.
With a large medical team at her side, Micah Eli was born at 2am on July 9 at a healthy 7.5 pounds.
“They did such a good job and acted really quickly,” Mrs Xhafer said. “The midwifery team were really good. They were keeping Micah resuscitated for about six hours to keep him alive.
“It’s not something that a country hospital would normally do.”
Mrs Xhafer lost about four litres of blood and underwent surgery.
She was taken to Cairns Hospital then to Townsville Hospital where baby Micah was required to be cooled for 72 hours as his brain had been without oxygen for a period of time.
“During the survey we didn’t hear any cry the whole time, we just kept asking if he was OK, they said they were working on him,” she said.
“They had to pretty much breathe for him for six hours.”
Mrs Xhafer said herself and bub were now recovering well.
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