Doctors deliver baby while mom was on a ventilator battling COVID-19

[Isabella]

DENVER — Heartbreak and hope happen every day inside hospitals.

The James family experienced heartbreak when 26-year-old Amber James couldn't breathe. She went to a nearby hospital in Thornton but was transferred to Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver when her condition got worse. 

James tested positive for COVID-19 while she was 33 weeks pregnant. 

“I’m here at home powerless not knowing what to do I can’t do anything," said Brett James, her husband, who was not allowed to visit her. "I had never been away from her while she was sick. Ever." 

Less than 24 hours after Amber was transferred, doctors put her on a ventilator. 

The next day, doctors performed an emergency cesarean section to save her baby. 

“And it came to the point where we needed to get the baby out for baby’s sake and it was a risk to mom," said Dr. Roy Bergstrom, an OB Hospitalist in the Obstetrix Medical Group who helped care for Amber James. 

Bergstrom said he and his team have performed more than a dozen emergency cesarean sections on moms with COVID-19. 

This one was different. 

“We’re Jehovah's Witnesses so we don’t accept blood, and that was the biggest struggle for me," said Brett James. "Because the doctor just straight told me, he’s like, 'so if she starts bleeding, you want us to let her die?' Just like that. And well yeah that’s our religion and that’s what we believe in." 

Bergstrom said he had conversations with Amber James about this before she was intubated. 

“It was definitely both an ethically challenging thing, and an emotionally challenging thing knowing that may come to be a factor in her care," he said. 

Luckily, there were no complications in Amber's C-section, and baby Michilah survived. 

https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/doctors-deliver-mothers-baby-while-shes-unconscious-on-a-ventilator-because-of-covid-19/73-6f33adf5-9c2d-4f5f-a155-370effe4d357

[Matthew9969]

That's nice that everything turned out ok and he didn't have to murder his wife.

[Patiently waiting for Truth]

Yes JWs do as they are told, and it seems they are told to let people die. 

I honestly do not think that God, Christ or the Bible say that people should just die because the GB say no blood transfusions. 

 

[Space Merchant]

That is good. The whole blood thing is a tough one, although, anything bloodless related is a positive one. There's always an alternative, rushing to a risky gold standard is not always the best option for anyone.