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May 15-21, 2020
Jamaica Hospital celebrates discharge
of COVID-19 mother and miracle baby
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center staffers celebrate the discharge of Tasnim Shaheen (c.) who battled
complications of COVID-19 and delivered a healthy baby girl. Courtesy of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
It was a joyous occasion
at Jamaica Hospital Medical
Center on Monday as doctors,
nurses and other frontline
staff celebrated the discharge
of a mother who battled complications
of the coronavirus and
delivered a healthy premature
baby girl to save her life.
On March 24, Tasnim Shaheen
was 24 weeks pregnant
with her third child when she
was taken to the hospital with
flu-like symptoms.
Shaheen was admitted to
the hospital’s labor unit for
coronavirus, but within two
days, her symptoms intensified
and she was transferred
to the intensive care unit and
placed on a ventilator.
The ICU team closely monitored
Shaheen’s condition over
the next few weeks, but became
increasingly concerned
as she developed acute kidney
injuries as well as pneumonia.
The doctors determined that it
was in the best interest of the
patient and her unborn child if
they performed a C-section.
“At this point, Mrs. Shaheen
was 28 weeks pregnant
and we felt as if the baby had
a good chance of survival if we
delivered,” said Dr. Kavitha
Ram, director of obstetrics at
Jamaica Hospital. “In addition,
we felt that removing the
fetus would give Mrs. Shaneen
a better opportunity to resolve
her kidney issues as well as
her pneumonia.”
After consulting with the
patient’s husband, the decision
was made to perform the surgery
on April 22.
Shaheen was taken directly
from the intensive care unit
to the operating room where
Ram and her team delivered
a 940 gram (approximately 2
lb.) baby girl, the couple’s first
daughter.
“The baby came out kicking
and screaming and was
very healthy,” Ram said.
The baby was immediately
taken to the neonatal intensive
care unit (NICU) and Shaheen
returned to intensive care.
Soon after the delivery,
Shaheen began showing signs
of improvement. Within two
days, her kidneys began to recover,
and within three days,
she was taken off of the ventilator.
After five days, she was
moved out of intensive care
and back to the labor unit.
One of the factors that
Ram attributes to Shaheen’s
recovery was the hospital’s
ability to connect her to her
family despite not being able
to see them due to visitation
restrictions.
“Throughout the entire
admission, our palliative care
team did an excellent job of
communicating with the patient’s
family through video
conferencing. Mr. Shaheen
had daily contact with his wife
even when she was on a ventilator,
which allowed him to
be involved in her care.” Ram
said. “When Mrs. Shaheen was
eventually taken off the ventilator,
she was able to not only
see and speak with her husband
and sons, but also her extended
family in Bangladesh.
We feel this greatly contributed
to her recovery.”
Perhaps the greatest moment,
however, was when Jamaica
Hospital was able to connect
Shaheen from her hospital
bed to her baby girl, Reeda Birt
Shaheen, in the NICU.
“We were overjoyed to be
able to provide her with the
opportunity to see her daughter
for the first time,” said Dr.
Medha Chunduru, palliative
care physician.
Vol. 8, No. 20 28 total pages
2021
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