Medical team helps pregnant women with heart conditions
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A specialized medical team with Corewell Health is providing care to pregnant women who have increased risk during pregnancy because of preexisting heart conditions.
Autumn and Brandon Van Zee were not sure if they would ever be able to have children.
“The cardiologist I had, I told her I wanted to get pregnant,” Autumn Van Zee said. “And she said she wasn’t sure if that was possible.”
Autumn Van Zee has cardiomyopathy, a condition that makes it harder for her heart to pump blood. She and her husband were ultimately referred to a team of specialists at Corewell Health.
“I think I was 21 weeks pregnant we had an ultrasound and they noticed something wrong with Jamison’s heart. And they didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” Autumn Van Zee said.
Doctors eventually learned her son had the same condition. With additional ultrasounds, they discovered the condition had gotten worse, so a cesarean section was needed.
He was in the neonatal intensive care unit for about a month before getting transferred to the heart floor at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids.
“From there, he got transferred to Mott Children’s at U of M, because he needed a heart transplant,” Autumn Van Zee said.
Doctors said they could try a Berlin heart pump device, but the risk was very high.
“It was open heart surgery, it could cause pain. … Our choices were either to do that and try it, or to let him go,” Autumn Van Zee said. “And so we made the decision to let him go when he was three months old.”
A few months later, Autumn Van Zee found out she was pregnant with her second child and eventually had a third child, too.
The Corewell team provided care through the pregnancy.
“They all knew our history with Jamison and what happened, and I just felt like they took good care of us,” Autumn Van Zee said.
Her maternal fetal medicine physician, Eryn Hart, says Autumn Van Zee’s heart condition required a higher level of care.
“Autumn in particular had about a 25% chance of having a significant change to her heart or even an arrhythmia, or a difference with how her heart would start beating, or potentially even dying from her condition if it worsened,” Hart said.
Doctors want women with heart conditions to know medical advancements are making pregnancy more manageable, even with the risks.
“It’s like the Super Bowl of medical wins for us, because when you see that healthy mom and that healthy baby leaving, that’s why we do what we do,” Hart said.
The Van Zee family says the team did everything they possibly could to provide the best care available.
“We believe that God gave us all three of our children. And we don’t know why Jamison was so sick and why he passed, but we’re grateful to have Jason and Jocelyn,” Autumn Van Zee said.
To learn more about the program, you can visit the Corewell Health website.
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