NEWBERG, Ore. – Two days after giving birth and having severe complications, an Oregon mom finally got the chance to meet her newborn son with the help of a robot.
Ivonne Cortez and her baby, Bradly were being treated at different Providence hospitals many miles apart after both of their hearts stopped briefly last Sunday.
Now they’re recovering and a robot normally used for stroke victims was set up so Ivonne could see and communicate with little Bradly. She was in a hospital bed at Providence Newberg Hospital and he was in the neonatal unit at Providence St. Vincent in Portland.
The two were able to see each other and mom could even talk to her little boy as dad, Paco also watched from his wife's side.
“Oh, that’s very beautiful,” Ivonne said as she got her first glimpse of her tiny son. “He looks just like his dad.”
The reason the two were separated was because Ivonne collapsed at the Newberg hospital on Sunday with heart troubles and then the baby’s heart stopped in the womb, so doctors had to do an emergency C-section.
“It began as a very, very dramatic very rapid series of situations to resolve,” said Dr. George Weghorst, chief medical officer at Providence Newberg Medical Center.
A medical team had to re-start Ivonne’s heart while another team resuscitated the baby. Then, Bradly was rushed to the neo-natal intensive care unit in Portland before Ivonne even awoke from surgery.
“This is one of those situations if there was a misstep, we would have lost a mother and probably lost a baby, also. I can’t say how proud I am of the team here in Newberg,” Weghorst added.
Doctors hope to unite the mom and baby in person soon but Wally the robot will always have a special place in their hearts.
The telestroke technology robot is normally used to connect Providence neurologists to rural hospitals, where they help diagnose and treat stroke patients. This was the first time it was used for something other than for stroke treatment.
