20 MAY 14, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
NATIONAL HOSPITALS WEEK
Jamaica Hospital celebrates discharge
of COVID-19 mother and miracle baby
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
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-pound) 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.
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center staff ers celebrate the discharge of Tasnim Shaheen (c.) who battled complications
of COVID-19 and delivered a healthy baby girl. Photos courtesy of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
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.
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