Placenta accreta is one of the fastest-growing, life-threatening complications of pregnancy. AdventHealth team member Mark Johnson recalls his family's experience with placenta accreta and shares his gratitude for the team who saved his wife and son's life.
Mark and his wife, Lindsey, were thrilled to learn they were pregnant with a boy and excited to grow their family, giving their daughter, Claire, a baby brother. However, the pregnancy was more stressful than Mark and Lindsey ever anticipated. Dr. Rachel Humphrey diagnosed Lindsey with placenta accreta, one of the fastest-growing, life-threatening pregnancy complications, and a condition that causes the placenta to grow through the uterus into other areas of the body.
Mark remembers what it felt like to hear the diagnosis, "It was very scary and a real wake-up call. But we are so grateful to Dr. Humphrey for catching this early in her pregnancy."
Mark recalls the shock of rushing Lindsey to the OB Emergency Department at AdventHealth for Women when she experienced heavy bleeding at 28 weeks pregnant. Dr. James Nix and several midwives cared for the couple. Luckily the bleeding stopped and after five days on the high-risk pregnancy floor, they were sent home with instructions for Lindsey to be put on bed rest.
Lindsey was on bed rest for six weeks and made it to her scheduled c-section date at 34 weeks and six days pregnant. The delivery was scheduled then so that Lindsey would deliver before going into labor, which would prevent her from hemorrhaging and other life-threatening complications. The physicians in the operating room, Dr. Ashley Hill, Dr. Mark Crider, Dr. Jorge Lense, Dr. Luis Fernandez-Sifre, Anesthesiologist Dr. Jeff Moore and multiple neonatologist nurses, and many others all worked together to help deliver their baby boy on April 15, 2021. Due to this condition, after the baby was delivered and the c-section was complete, Lindsey underwent a partial hysterectomy to remove the damaged uterus.
