47-Year-Old IVF Mother with Life-Threatening Heart Disease Delivers Safely at CARE Hospitals, Hitech City
Hyderabad: Doctors at CARE Hospitals, Hitech City successfully managed a high-risk IVF pregnancy in a 47-year-old woman diagnosed with severe rheumatic heart disease, ensuring the safe delivery of both mother and baby.
The patient, Shalini (name changed), was admitted at 31 weeks of pregnancy with severe breathlessness and persistent cough. Investigations revealed Chronic Rheumatic Heart Disease with severe mitral stenosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension — a condition classified as extremely high-risk for pregnancy under WHO guidelines.
The pregnancy was further complicated by advanced maternal age, previous Caesarean section, beta-thalassemia trait, and hypothyroidism.
She was stabilised in critical care with intensive medical management. A multidisciplinary team of cardiologists, obstetricians, anaesthesiologists, intensivists, and neonatologists closely monitored her condition and successfully prolonged the pregnancy to 34 weeks to improve fetal maturity.
An elective Caesarean section was performed under combined spinal and epidural anaesthesia. The preterm baby was born stable and monitored in the NICU for a few days before discharge. The mother remained haemodynamically stable and has recovered well.
Doctors said the case highlights the importance of early cardiac evaluation in pregnant women with breathlessness and the need for coordinated multidisciplinary care, especially as IVF pregnancies and advanced maternal age become more common.