Doug and Melanie Pritchard were expecting a smooth delivery with their second child.
Melanie’s pregnancy had progressed just like it should, but when she got to the hospital, everything changed.
Melanie told one of the midwives that something felt wrong while she was waiting to deliver her little girl. She felt dizzy and nauseas. The doctors tried to find out what was wrong, but they couldn’t see anything wrong with her or the baby.
After that, everything happened quickly. Melanie’s health sank dramatically and every monitor and screen in the room began to beep frantically. Melanie’s heart stopped.
The mom had suffered an amniotic fluid embolism, which is a rare childbirth emergency. It happens roughly 1 in every 80,000 births. It’s believed to be caused by the amniotic fluid coming into contact with the mom’s blood cells and circulation.
Amniotic fluid contains many egg whites and particles that, when they end up in the mother’s bloodstream, are believed to cause the incredibly fast and sudden reaction that occurred in Melanie.
Melanie received emergency care and her baby was successfully born via cesarean. But Melanie didn’t make it. She was pronounced dead and family members came to say goodbye to their beloved mom, wife and daughter. But 24 hours later, something happened that shocked everyone.
Doug and Melanie Pritchard had been happily married for three years when they found out they would be extending their family.
But during the birth, everything went wrong. Melanie was struck by an amniotic fluid embolism and stopped breathing. Although doctors rushed the mom into the operating room, they failed to bring Melanie back to life.
Her heart stopped beating and she was declared clinically dead. The doctors said that Melanie would need a heart or lung transplant and that even if she survived, she would likely be brain damaged for the rest of her life. They eventually managed to bring Melanie back to life, but the situation looked bleak.
“My wife was clinically dead when my daughter was born,” husband Doug says. “My first thought was that I was going to be a widow.”
The doctors told Doug to prepare to say goodbye to his wife. That’s when he leaned over his wife to give her one last kiss goodbye.
“If you have any fight left in you, start fighting!” he whispered to Melanie.
And it seems that those few words gave Melanie the strength she needed. Nearly 24 hours after Melanie lost consciousness, she opened her eyes again. Doug showed her a photo of their daughter, Gabriella, who had survived against all odds while Melanie fought for her life. It’s hard to imagine the joy this couple must have felt.
A few hours later, Melanie was able to breathe on her own. Despite what the doctors had thought, she didn’t need a transplant. She even managed to recover without medication. Within a week, she was miraculously able to return to her family.
“Her recovery was a miracle. The fact that she’s alive is a miracle,” Doug says.
Isn’t it a miracle that Melanie survived this and made a full recovery? Help us send her our congratulations and wish her and her family all the best for the future!
Share if you think miracles happen to those who believe in them and to send your wishes to this beautiful family!
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