Expert Prenatal Care Makes All the Difference for Owen
Lauren and Giles were getting ready for a summer trip to Ireland when a routine sonogram indicated the baby they were expecting had a complex congenital heart condition. “It was a scary day,” says Lauren, 20 weeks pregnant at the time. “This was our baby, and we didn’t know if he would live.”
Transposition of the great arteries is a condition in which the aorta connects to the heart’s right ventricle and the pulmonary artery connects to the left ventricle. This is the reverse of a normal heart. Lauren and Giles prepared to cancel their trip.
Their obstetrician referred them immediately to Children’s National Hospital. The next day, Mary Donofrio, M.D., medical director of the Prenatal Cardiology Program reassured them that the right care at the time of delivery and surgery soon after birth would give their baby every chance to grow up healthy. She told them to go on their trip and have fun — they soon would have a baby to love and care for. “She was so confident,” says Lauren. “She even talked about him going to college one day. It made us feel so much better.”
Monthly, then weekly sonograms and echocardiograms helped monitor Owen’s heart and blood flow until he was born. The team worked out a plan for Lauren to give birth at Washington Hospital Center, adjacent to our main campus so they could be present to administer neonatal care immediately. The baby’s open-heart surgery took place soon after. “The coordination and communication among teams was remarkable,” says Giles.
Owen spent three weeks recovering in our Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Along the way, he had care for pediatric needs including neurology and nephrology. Owen is now a giggling baby with a healthy appetite. “Care at Children’s National gave us our son,” Giles says. “We are so thankful. He’s our life.”
Transposition of the great arteries is a condition in which the aorta connects to the heart’s right ventricle and the pulmonary artery connects to the left ventricle. This is the reverse of a normal heart. Lauren and Giles prepared to cancel their trip.
Their obstetrician referred them immediately to Children’s National Hospital. The next day, Mary Donofrio, M.D., medical director of the Prenatal Cardiology Program reassured them that the right care at the time of delivery and surgery soon after birth would give their baby every chance to grow up healthy. She told them to go on their trip and have fun — they soon would have a baby to love and care for. “She was so confident,” says Lauren. “She even talked about him going to college one day. It made us feel so much better.”
Monthly, then weekly sonograms and echocardiograms helped monitor Owen’s heart and blood flow until he was born. The team worked out a plan for Lauren to give birth at Washington Hospital Center, adjacent to our main campus so they could be present to administer neonatal care immediately. The baby’s open-heart surgery took place soon after. “The coordination and communication among teams was remarkable,” says Giles.
Owen spent three weeks recovering in our Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Along the way, he had care for pediatric needs including neurology and nephrology. Owen is now a giggling baby with a healthy appetite. “Care at Children’s National gave us our son,” Giles says. “We are so thankful. He’s our life.”
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