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A Woodley mum has made a miraculous recovery following two weeks in intensive care.
Laura Damulira, 29, required emergency treatment last month as doctors battled to keep her and her baby alive after discovery she has previously undetected heart problems.
A team of 21 medics at Royal Berkshire Hospital, including consultants, anaesthetists and health professionals driven in from London’s Brompton Hospital, carried out an emergency caesarean using a heart by-pass machine owned by only five hospitals across the country.
Laura said: “It’s been a total roller coaster which started when I rang 111 because I was nine days overdue and had developed swollen ankles which I was worried could be deep vein thrombosis.
“I was advised to go to Emergency Department and next thing was I’d been admitted and told I had serious heart problems which was a complete shock.”
And although successful in delivering the baby, the several hour-long procedure resulted in Laura being rushed to London’s Harefield Hospital where she spent two weeks in its ICU.
At the same time, baby Martha, weighing a healthy 8lb 9oz, was looked after at the RBH’s special baby care unit before meeting her mother for the first time five days after her birth.
Laura was transferred back to RBH last week for further tests and observation before finally returning to her Wokingham home with baby Martha and husband Ben on Thursday May, 29.
Reflecting on the unanticipated turn of events, Laura said: “It was such a big shock finding out about my heart problems, especially when I was so heavily pregnant.
“Now I really want to raise awareness of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy which is a condition that comes on during pregnancy, but the 3rd trimester symptoms disguise the fact there’s anything wrong.
The new mum added: “The care I’ve had from all the doctors and nurses has been exceptional, especially when you realise just how amazingly rushed they are dealing with coronavirus.
“Martha is doing so well, it’s such a relief that she’s not been affected by all the drama.”
And delighted by Laura’s recovery, obstetrician at RBH, Jill Ablett said: “It’s great to have such a positive outcome to what was a very serious and sudden situation.
“We had to do a lot of work to set up the theatre for all the medics and machinery we needed to keep Laura and her unborn baby safe.
“This is a fantastic example of partnership working, not just within teams at our Trust, but from other hospitals too.
“We’re all so pleased there’s been this happy ending and Laura has gone home to enjoy family life with her new baby.”
