"I was scared to deliver early but I loved the NICU at NBI—the nurses were so on top of things and the communication was great."
After three miscarriages, a woman with diabetes took control of her health.
Yomaira Soto-Jones, 35, always wanted to be a mother. “My passion is children,” says the Elizabeth resident. She first achieved this dream in her 20s, by adopting three boys and later becoming a stepmother to a daughter. Still, the busy mom yearned for a biological child to add to her family.
Sadly, she experienced three miscarriages. When she became pregnant again last year, Yomaira was also struggling with health challenges, including hypertension, obesity and complications from Type 2 diabetes. Determined not to lose another child, she began seeing Kenneth Treadwell, Jr., MD, an OB-GYN affiliated with Newark Beth Israel Medical Center (NBI).
A close watch
“Diabetes and hypertension are two bad actors in pregnancy. They put Yomaira at high risk, so she had to be watched very closely,” says Dr. Treadwell. Given Yomaira’s health issues, he advised that her care be co-managed by a maternal fetal medicine specialist at NBI. Maternal fetal medicine is a subspecialty of obstetrics that handles patients with the highest risk of pregnancy complications, including those with diabetes, hypertension, obesity and blood, cardiac and lung disorders. NBI has four such specialists, including Shailini Singh, MD, who coordinates the High-Risk Diabetes Clinic at NBI.
These specialists see patients referred to them from throughout the region. “It’s a specialty that requires a delicate balance because you have two patients— the mom and the fetus,” says Dr. Singh. “You want to help the mom, who is at high risk. At the same time, we often can’t prescribe the same drugs we would use if she were not pregnant because many of them cross the placenta and could harm the baby. Managing these patients requires teamwork.”
NBI also offers preconception counseling, in which medical professionals work with a woman to get her health issues under control before pregnancy. “If you have diabetes, hypertension and are overweight, it’s essential to seek preconception counseling, or get it as soon as you learn you are pregnant,” says Dr. Singh.
Dr. Singh prescribed medication to treat Yomaira’s diabetes and hypertension. She also advised her to lose weight and follow a modified diet to control her blood sugar, which had been rapidly rising. “What I love about Dr. Singh is she’s straightforward and she stayed on top of me,” says Yomaira. At 32 weeks, an ultrasound revealed that there was restricted blood flow to the fetus due to preeclampsia, characterized by high blood pressure and signs of organ damage—a complication of diabetes. An emergency C-section was ordered. That night, Yomaira had a daughter, Isabella Hope, who weighed in at just 2 pounds, 14 ounces. The baby spent 29 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at NBI.
“I was scared to deliver early but I loved the NICU at NBI—the nurses were so on top of things and the communication was great,” Yomaira recalls.
Today, Isabella is home getting stronger and Yomaira looks forward to continuing her education to become a special needs teacher. She offers this advice for other high-risk moms: “Keep your appointments, listen to your doctors and don’t lose hope,” she says. “I used to think I wasn’t meant to have my own child, but here she is.”
Visit Newark Beth Israel Medical Center to learn more about maternal fetal medicine services.