Patient Stories
Sutter Women's Services
Baby Natalie – Saved by Medical Experts and Hundreds of Prayers
“I had a healthy, wonderful pregnancy,” Laura says. “Everything was perfect. I delivered at Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital, the same place I was born. The new chapter of our lives was starting out beautifully.”
Unfortunately, that storybook scene quickly turned nightmarish when the hospital staff discovered that Laura’s baby, Natalie, was born with a diaphragmatic hernia. The newborn had a hole in her diaphragm that allowed abdominal organs to move toward her chest. Natalie’s intestines, stomach, spleen and kidney were in her chest cavity, putting pressure on her lungs and heart.
One of the nurses at Sutter Auburn, Leslie, was the first to detect a problem. She noticed that Natalie’s heartbeat was faint, but that the beat was oddly stronger on Natalie’s right side. “Leslie told me that she’s not sure why she attempted to check Natalie’s heartbeat on the other side,” Laura says. “But thank God she did. That was the first of several miracles.”
After the doctors and specialists determined Natalie’s diagnosis of congenital diaphragmatic hernia, they informed Laura and her husband, Scott, of the sad news. “They prepared us for the worst,” says Laura. “They said that a transfer team from Sutter Memorial Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was already on its way. No one specifically told me that Natalie might not make it, but they encouraged us to spend time with her and have a picture taken before she was transported. I was in shock, wondering why God would take away my baby girl when He had just given her to us.” Heartbroken, the new parents watched their daughter leave with the transport team.
Over the next few weeks, Scott and Laura spent most of their waking hours at Sutter Memorial with Natalie. “The surgery to close up the hole in her diaphragm went well,” Laura says. “My whole family was praying for her. But we weren’t the only ones.”
Laura and her family used Sutter Health’s CaringBridge website to keep family and friends updated on Natalie’s condition. CaringBridge is a Web-based service that shares a Sutter patient’s status and story on the Internet. The patient or family posts the information they want to share on a Web page that can be viewed by those who are emailed the link (which can be as private or public as the patient chooses).
“We wanted everyone in our church to pray for Natalie, that’s one reason we started it,” Laura says about CaringBridge. “I didn’t expect all our friends and family to share Natalie’s story with their friends and families – but they did! Soon we had nearly 2,000 visits on her page from people all over the world. I couldn’t believe it.”
Following her surgery, Natalie’s condition improved. “We went through a lot during those weeks at Sutter Memorial – dealing with respirators, feeding problems and the issues stemming from her hernia. It was a long, difficult time. But thanks to the doctors, nurses and all the prayers, her recovery was faster than most with that condition,” Laura says with a grateful smile.
“The people at Sutter Auburn Faith and Sutter Memorial are amazing. We are thankful to all of them,” says Laura. “I was so happy to have delivered at Sutter Auburn, where they were quick to recognize Natalie’s diagnosis and coordinate with Sutter Memorial. And, I’m especially grateful for Sutter’s CaringBridge, because that’s what kept me connected to my loved ones and that’s what got hundreds of people praying for my daughter, who is perfectly healthy today.”