Perfect pregnancy takes divine and donor intervention

Welcoming a new child is an exciting time in a family’s history.

Sometimes, however, the moment takes an unexpected turn, one that involves medical expertise, divine grace and donor support.

Kayla Watts felt fully prepared to welcome her fourth child in 2023.

“The pregnancy was pretty much perfect,” said the Springtown mom. “My appointments all went well, and I was planning on an out-of-hospital natural birth in a birthing center.”

She experienced the usual aches and pains, nothing to cause her worry, Kayla recalled.

But, 37 weeks into her pregnancy, she woke up one day feeling awful and knew something did not seem quite right.

“There was no clear reason for my malaise, but I did notice the baby was not moving like she normally did,” Kayla said.

She grew increasingly concerned about the decreased fetal movement. Kayla contacted her midwives at the birthing center and was told to come in for an immediate checkup.

After she and her husband arrived at the center, her unborn daughter had a drop in her heart rate. Kayla was rushed to a Fort Worth hospital for an emergency C-section. The procedure was canceled when the baby’s heart rate recovered.

“While my husband and I could have opted to go home, my precious midwife recommended that we stay in observation overnight and readdress everything the next morning,” Kayla said. “We agreed and the hospital staff got us settled in for the night. My husband went to sleep on the couch, and I lay in the bed, mind racing and body aching.”

Soon after midnight, Kayla felt a sensation as though her water had broken. Her husband urgently called for a nurse.

“When she walked in and flipped on the light,” Kayla recalled, “I had never seen someone’s face go that white.”

Kayla actually had a ruptured placenta, also known as placental abruption. In this serious pregnancy complication, the placenta separates from the uterine wall before birth. This cuts off oxygen and nutrients to the baby and causes severe bleeding in the mother.

“They were able to rush me to the OR and had the baby out literally in a few minutes. In that time, I lost over half of my blood volume and needed two units of blood in transfusion,” Kayla remembered. “Had I not been in observation that night, the surgeon said both my baby girl and I would have passed in just a few minutes.”

Today, mother and daughter are doing well, with gratitude for lifesaving intervention.

“Had it not been for God, who intervened on our behalf, and had it not been for blood donors, someone taking a few minutes of their precious time to give blood, I would not have survived,” Kayla said. “I am eternally grateful to someone out there, someone I would love to hug and tell them, ‘Thank you, thank you for the sacrifice you made.’”

Local patients need you. Please donate this week at your Carter BloodCare mobile blood drive or donor center. When you do, you’ll get a Donor Appreciation Gift.

And there’s another way you can help: If you’ve ever received a transfusion, your patient experience can motivate others to donate blood to save lives. Like Kayla, you can make a big difference when you Tell Us Your Story.