'Heart stopped for 30 mins': Dubai mum, baby saved in near-death C-section

A 31-year old mother and her premature baby were both miraculously saved by a team of doctors at a hospital in Dubai who performed a perimortem (near-death) Caesarean section on the mother who had a near-fatal cardiac arrest.

Indian mum Maryam Mohd Kalim Siddiqui was rushed to International Modern Hospital (IMH) on Sunday (May 26) after having seizures at home due to hypertension. She was 27 weeks pregnant and her blood pressure shot up to 181/110 mmHg.

It was her second pregnancy and she also suffered from hypertension five years ago when she gave birth to twins.

A provisional diagnosis of eclampsia was made and treatment was immediately initiated at the emergency room for her seizures and convulsions.

Ten minutes after arriving at the hospital, Maryam had another seizure. She went into cardiac arrest and code blue (meaning, patient required resuscitation) was immediately initiated.

Heart stopped for half hour

“It was the most critical part of her life, and the baby's too,” Sa’adia, Maryam’s older sister, told Khaleej Times on Wednesday. “My sister had cardiac arrest and her heart stopped for more than 30 minutes,” added Sa’adia, who flew all the way from Saudi Arabia to take care of her younger sister.

Doctors at IMH continued CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) for half an hour that eventually led to spontaneous circulation of blood. Maryam was given inotropes (drug for muscular contractions) to support her blood pressure. She was intubated and transferred to the ICU (intensive care unit) for post-cardiac arrest care.

Critical emergency operation

Given the critical nature of the situation and the gestational age of the fetus (27 weeks), the medical team at IMH immediately decided to perform a perimortem cesarean section to save the lives of both the mother and her unborn baby after the mother suffered a cardiac arrest.

Perimortem C-section or surgical delivery of the fetus performed during or near the time of death of the mother is rare and very critical. The IMH medical team noted: “It has a very low success rate in saving both lives of mother and baby, with only a few documented cases worldwide.”

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