Posted 6/22/01
Emergency surgery at Fairview Lakes saves unborn child after life-threatening car crash
A potential tragedy turned to joy shortly before noon Saturday, June 9, when quick action by a team of medical personnel at Fairview Lakes Regional Medical Center, bolstered by hundreds of prayers, saved an unborn babyís life.
Grace Anne Taylor was delivered by emergency cesarean section at 11:56 a.m. June 9. Less than two hours earlier, Graceís mother, Trish Taylor, had been involved in a car crash near North Branch that ruptured her uterus and threatened her unborn baby.
In a situation where skill and minutes counted, ìWe had lots of heroes doing their job to save a new life,î says Betty Anderson, health unit coordinator for the emergency department. Emergency Department Coordinator Estelle Palmer, R.N., agrees, ìIt was one of those times when everything slipped into place so perfectly.î
Taylor was on her way to the outlet mall at North Branch when a pickup truck and conversion van collided at a stop sign in front of her. The truck then collided with her vehicle. The accident happened on Co. Rd. 68 less than two blocks from her house.
ìI knew immediately something bad had happened, because I was in sheer pain all over my stomach,î says Taylor.
Dr. R. Paul Post was one of two physicians working in the Emergency Department at Fairview Lakes Regional Medical Center that morning.
ìThe ambulance crew called us from the accident scene indicating they were bringing in a pregnant woman near full term with abdominal injury,î says Post, who immediately requested an obstetrical nurse from the patient care floor. In rapid succession emergency calls were also issued to the surgeon on call that day for emergency c-sections, Dr. Carl Peikert, as well as an ultrasound technologist, the surgery team and an anesthetist.
A fetal monitor placed on Taylor as soon as she arrived verified her baby was still all right, but her membranes were broken and her abdomen was tender all over. An ultrasound showed blood in her abdomen, which could be either in or outside the uterus.
Dr. Peikert arrived just as the fetal monitor signaled the baby was in distress. Peikert prepared to do a c-section and felt it might be a good idea to have a second surgeon on hand in case Taylor had other internal injuries. An on-call surgeon was dispatched from the Twin Cities, but Dr. Post decided to also call local surgeon, Dr. Niels H. Sorenson. Sorenson was at home and immediately responded despite the fact he was on vacation.
Scarcely an hour after Taylor had arrived in the emergency department, Grace Anne was delivered by cesarean section. After the first incision was made, Post said they could see through the peritoneum (abdominal lining) that the babyís hand was protruding from her motherís ruptured uterus.
ìThey told me afterward that in six or seven minutes the baby might not have survived,î Taylor said. Arriving just as the baby was delivered, Dr. Sorenson assisted Dr. Peikert in caring for the mother while Dr. Post tended to the newborn infant. Although Grace was born in distress, Post said that within five minutes after the birth the baby scored 8 on the 10-point Apgar scale used to assess newborns. Grace, who was due June 15, weighed 8 lb. 1 oz. and was 19 inches long. Her mother says Grace suffered nothing more than a tiny scratch on her face from the incision that saved her life.
The babyís grandmother, Patty Nagle, was attending the Women of Faith Conference at the Excel Energy Center when she received word that her daughter had been involved in a car accident. ìAll my friends were around me. We are Christians, so we prayed,î says Nagle. ìSoon everybody around us at the conference was praying for Trish.î As Nagle and her husband drove to Wyoming, she along with prayer intercessors among the 12,000 to 14,000 women attending the conference continued to pray for Trish and her baby.
ìIt still gives me goosebumps when I think about it,î Dr. Post said later. ìAll of those people praying for this baby.î
The name Grace Ann had been picked before the baby was born but it couldnít have been more appropriate. ìWe say, by the grace of God our angel Grace is here,î said Nagle.
Trish and her husband Gary moved to North Branch from Maplewood two years ago. She had planned to have this baby-their first-at a hospital in the Twin Cities, but Trish says, ìIím very much more than pleased with the care I got at Wyoming. They held my hand and wiped away my tears. Iíll never forget it.î She says she wouldnít hesitate for a moment to go there in the future.
ìThe staff took us in their arms and loved us and cared for us.î said Trishís mom. ìI have never had so much comfort, joy and love from one hospital.î