At age 44, Pamela Donahue’s pregnancy was classified as high-risk. However, Donahue faced far steeper obstacles than her age in her journey to carry her little girl to full term and deliver a healthy baby. When she was just eight weeks pregnant with her third child, doctors at Newton-Wellesley Hospital discovered a potentially fatal aortic aneurysm in Donahue’s abdomen. Immediate surgery at BWH was necessary to avoid rupture. While blood flow to Donahue’s fetus would be temporarily interrupted during the complex surgical procedure, their lives were both at risk if nothing was done at all.
Nurses from the OR and the Connors Center were pivotal members of the specialized patient care teams responsible for both repairing Donahue's aneurysm and for the successful delivery of little Hayley Elizabeth. Hayley was born at BWH just three days prior to Mother's Day.
Maggy Ohanessian, RN, the circulating nurse in the Operating Room (OR) during Donahue’s surgery, remembers the patient and her family very well. “She was really scared but determined to pull through. It was great to learn that both Pamela and her baby are doing so well,” said Ohanessian.