18 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 14, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
national hospitals week
Jamaica Hospital celebrates discharge
of COVID-19 mother and miracle baby
Tasnim Shaheen communicates with her husband and sons on a teleconference video call.
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 fl u-like
symptoms.
Shaheen was admitted to the hospital’s
labor unit for coronavirus, but within two
days, her symptoms intensifi ed and she
was transferred to the intensive care unit
and placed on a ventilator.
Th e 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. Th e 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.”
Aft er 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 fi rst daughter. “Th e baby
came out kicking and screaming and was
very healthy,” Ram said.
Th e baby was immediately taken to the
neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and
Shaheen returned to intensive care. Soon
aft er 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.
Aft er fi ve 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.
“Th roughout 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 fi rst time,” said Dr.
Medha Chunduru, palliative care physician.
Photos courtesy of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center
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