Woman gives birth to baby within hours of pacemaker implantation at Stanley Hospital in Chennai

A team of doctors — cardiologists, obstetrician-gynaecologists and anaesthetist — of the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital and its affiliated institution, Government Raja Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar (RSRM) Lying-in Hospital, came together to manage a case of high risk pregnancy of a 24-year-old woman with a complete heart block.

A team of doctors — cardiologists, obstetrician-gynaecologists and anaesthetist — of the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital and its affiliated institution, Government Raja Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar (RSRM) Lying-in Hospital, came together to manage a case of high risk pregnancy of a 24-year-old woman with a complete heart block. The woman underwent pacemaker implantation that was followed by a caesarean section on the same day, with a team and operation theatre readied at Stanley Hospital.

According to doctors, the woman had ventricular septal defect and aortic valve disease for which she had undergone aortic valvotomy and VSD closure when she was a seven-year-old child. She had a low heart rate and was under medication. She had a complete heart block.

During the 36th week of pregnancy, she was referred from RSRM Hospital to the Stanley Hospital. Her heartbeat was 35 to 40, a risk to both the mother and the baby, according to doctors.

P. Balaji, dean of Stanley Hospital, said she was a high-risk mother. A team of cardiologists of the hospital implanted a pacemaker. Without shifting her to RSRM as it would be risky, the hospital authorities readied a team and operation theatre in the same building — Super Speciality Block — where she gave birth to a baby through caesarean section on the same day. She was kept under the care of the cardiology team for 72 hours before being shifted to RSRM. Both the mother and the child were doing well, the doctors said.

Doctors added that one in 20,000 pregnant women have a complete heart block, but this combination of a hole in the heart with valve issue and complete heart block was rarest of rare cases.

Health Minister Ma. Subramanian met the mother and the child and lauded the team of doctors comprising K. Kannan, head of the department of cardiology; Murugan, professor; and Sampath Kumar, associate professor; Shanthi Elango and Rajalakshmi, obstetrician-gynaecologists from RSRM Hospital; and Niranjan, anaesthetist; on Thursday.

The Minister inaugurated a computerised radiography digital mammogram with CR Reader set up at RSRM Hospital at a cost of ₹17 lakh.