Covid-positive mum with heart failure delivers ‘miracle baby’
What began as a routine checkup for a 30-yearold pregnant Filipina ended with a Covid-19 diagnosis, three hospital transfers, the discovery of heart failure, and an emergency surgery.
Michelle Baldemor and her second child, who was then in her womb, had been through a lot. The expat and her husband were so grateful to the hospital who saved them that they named their baby boy ‘Cleveland’ — in honour of the doctors at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
Baldemor was 26 weeks pregnant when she tested positive for the virus. Concerned she might experience complications, her doctor referred her to a local maternity hospital for observation.
Her condition continued to worsen, and her oxygen requirements kept increasing, requiring her to be placed on a mechanical ventilator to support her lungs.
Her chest x-ray also revealed an enlarged heart.
Michelle was transferred to another hospital in the area — the second in just 24 hours – for further management and evaluation. There, an echocardiogram revealed she was suffering from heart failure. It was made even more serious by her Covid-19 pneumonia. A decision was made to transfer her to Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD).
“When Michelle arrived at the CCAD, she was in a critical condition. Our team worked on her all night to stabilise her,” said Dr Vivek Kakar, director of the cardiac critical care at the hospital.
As traditional surgery was not an option, the team decided to attempt to open her heart valve using a balloon. They hoped that this would stabilise her condition and allow her to carry her baby to full term before undergoing surgery to fully repair or replace the valve.
“If Michelle hadn’t been pregnant, she would have been scheduled for heart surgery right away. It wasn’t possible to do surgery without jeopardising the baby. We know that operating on Covid-19 patients within the first four to six weeks leads to much worse outcomes. As a result, we looked at other options to open the valve and decided that using a balloon placed percutaneously was the only one available to us if we were to protect both her and the baby,” said Dr Kakar.
Understanding it was a highrisk operation, Michelle’s care team gathered in the operating room to attempt to open her heart valve. They were joined by a surgical team from a local maternity hospital who were ready to perform an emergency C-section to deliver the baby.
During the surgery, her condition required the team to proceed with the emergency delivery — the only way to protect Michelle and her baby. It was a success.
Caleb Angelo Cleveland Baldemor was born at just 27 weeks.
“To see both mother and baby doing so well after such an ordeal is immensely gratifying and really quite special,” said Dr Kakar.
After recovering from Covid, Michelle focused on rebuilding her strength and caring for her newborn son.
She recently underwent a successful surgery to replace her mitral valve at CCAD. She was discharged within two weeks of her surgery and continues to do well.
“I really feel that I have been given a second life. If I had not tested positive for Covid, who knows if I would have found out about my heart until it was too late,” said Michelle.
“We named my son Caleb, meaning brave, because he has already faced so much. His middle name is Cleveland to commemorate everything the team did to support us both as he came into the world.”