Sharla Rich’s fourth pregnancy was a fairly routine one, although the Weyburn mom of three had felt sicker than with any of her previous pregnancies. However, on August 13, 2023, things took a dramatic turn. Luckily for Sharla and her unborn daughter, world-class help was a short drive away, in the form of the medical teams at Regina’s General Hospital.
“I woke up at 3 a.m. that Sunday morning and I was bleeding. My urine was full of blood. I remember being rushed to the hospital in Weyburn. Next thing I knew, I woke up at Regina’s General Hospital two days later. My baby, Xola, had been delivered via C-section while I was out and was being looked after in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Rawlco Centre for Mother Baby Care. That was the start of our adventure”, shares Sharla.
Sharla had developed a rare condition called placenta percreta, where the placenta had slipped out of the uterus and adhered to the wall of her bladder. It is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication. In Sharla’s case, it required four surgeries, 17 blood transfusions and some time spent in a medically-induced coma to deal with.
The condition is so rare, doctors in Regina had to consult with their counterparts in Toronto for guidance. Sharla needed care from our medical teams at the Regina General Hospital for five weeks to recover. Eventually, on September 16th Sharla was given the all clear, to the relief of her family. Then it was just a matter of healing and recovering, while waiting for Xola to be strong enough to join her older brother and sisters at home.
While her Mom was receiving life-saving care, baby Xola was under the watchful eyes of the team in our NICU. She was born at 27 weeks, weighing only 2.3 pounds.
“I will never be able to say enough good things about the medical teams at RGH”, Sharla says. “While I was recovering, they took such fantastic care of Xola. They treated her like she was a member of their own families. I don’t know if either of us would be here today without them.”
Fortunately, Xola was fairly healthy but, being born early, her lungs were not fully developed and she needed time on a C-PAP machine in order to help her lungs grow strong enough to breathe on their own. On December 8, after 117 days in the NICU and pediatric special care nursery, Xola was discharged.
“This was the best Christmas our family had in years”, Sharla confides. “The medical teams gave us the ultimate present – our family was healthy and together for Christmas. I want to thank them, and the many supporters of Hospitals of Regina Foundation, who help equip the NICU with the best possible technology. You are literally lifesavers.”
“It’s wonderful to hear that Sharla, Xola, and their family are thriving, thanks to our community’s support of local health care”, says Lisa Green, senior vice-president, Hospitals of Regina Foundation. “The Foundation is proud to work with all our donors to help ensure that children and their families across southern Saskatchewan can live better lives.”