Oct 15, 2009 11:45 pm US/Eastern
HealthWatch: Dangers Of H1N1 & Pregnancy
CBS 2 HD Speaks To New Mother Who Almost Missed Her Chance To See Her Child Grow Due To Nasty Virus
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Pregnant women are among the first in line for the H1N1 vaccine -- and for a good reason.
CBS 2 HD has more on how the swine flu almost killed a new mother and the revolutionary treatment that saved her life.
Baby Liam is 2 months old and just now bonding with his mom.
"I just want to hold him close to me all the time," mother Karin McHugh said.
It's a happy homecoming now, but it was close to being a funeral for 29-year-old McHugh.
"I said to my husband if I don't make it out of this I'm sorry if I wasn't a good wife," McHugh said.
That was the last thing she remembers from July. She was 9 months pregnant and developed flu-like symptoms and had trouble breathing. The baby was delivered in an emergency c-section and ended up being fine.
Then Karin started crashing.
"There were several times that she was very close to death," said Dr. Scott Halpern of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.
Karin had one of the worst cases of H1N1 swine flu doctors have seen. Her lungs were incapacitated. Translation: No oxygen … no life.
"Karin did die, and was resuscitated and brought back," Dr. Halpern said.
Her husband Brian was desperate.
"I really put her in God's hands. They were doing everything they could," Brian McHugh said.
Ventilators, drugs … nothing was working. Karin's organs were shutting down.
In desperation, the team turned to heart-lung bypass, and a machine circulated oxygenated blood in her body for almost a month.
"It undoubtedly saved her life," Dr. Halpern said.
"I guess it just wasn't my time," Karin McHugh said.
She beat the odds and made it home still bandaged and bruised from tubes in her neck that kept her alive. She was reunited with her family.
"I missed the first two months of his life," Karin said.
We now know swine flu is especially dangerous for pregnant woman. Their best protection is the upcoming vaccine. It may be too late for Karin, but she said pregnant women should do anything they can to guard against the illness.
"It was just a downward spiral. I mean, I almost didn't make it," Karin said.
If you're pregnant and begin to experience flu-like symptoms such as fever, muscle aches and runny nose, let your doctor know immediately. Early intervention with antiviral medications may be appropriate and can cut down on the risk of serious complications.
Pregnant women are four times more likely to be hospitalized with swine flu than the general population.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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