My Mom Died for 45 Minutes While I Was Giving Birth

People

Kathy Patten went to the hospital to be by her daughter Stacey Fifer’s side as she gave birth to her first child. Instead, doctors were soon fighting to save Kathy’s life after a heart attack left her clinically dead for 45 minutes.   Stacey had learned she was pregnant around the time her husband was diagnosed with cancer — and now feared losing her mother just as she was becoming one herself. In this sit down with PEOPLE, Kathy, Stacey and Dr. Frankel recount the desperate effort to save Kathy’s life.

Transcript

00:00I just remember begging the doctors,

00:02please, please, please, I can't lose my mom

00:05the day that I give birth to my daughter.

00:09It's wonderful news.

00:11Stacy's first child, I'm proud she's going to be a mama.

00:13I'm excited.

00:17She looked beautiful.

00:19You know, I said hello and happy to see you

00:22and going to be a mama.

00:25She was sitting on the couch.

00:27She had an unsettled stomach

00:29and wasn't really sure why.

00:31She thought that she was going to vomit, and she did.

00:35I don't remember doing that.

00:37I did feel something in my arm,

00:38and I told her to call the doctor.

00:41I think I'm having a heart attack.

00:44The other thing I do remember is saying,

00:48Stacy, because I wanted to be there to witness the birth.

00:52I said to her, don't worry about me, Mom.

00:56You just focus on yourself.

00:58You call me when you're situated.

01:00I'm fine, and you just let me know that you're okay.

01:02Don't worry about me.

01:03They had taken my mom out of the room.

01:07She went into cardiac arrest.

01:09I am unable to move with the epidural,

01:12not even knowing how to process it.

01:16The chaplain's back in my room.

01:18The team of doctors are back in my room

01:20to tell me that they still have been unable to resuscitate her.

01:24You could see on the faces of the nurses and doctors,

01:29it was over.

01:31My husband is calling my family,

01:34letting everybody know that my mom has passed away.

01:37I took the airway, which means I was at the head.

01:41And I was looking at her, and I said,

01:44you need to see your grandchild.

01:45Like, we're not giving up.

01:46She needed to make it.

01:50The pharmacist turned to me and said, what's the dose?

01:52It's not something that we typically do.

01:54I said, I don't know.

01:56I don't care.

01:58Fill a syringe.

01:59Push it.

02:00You cannot kill dead.

02:03I think the next shock, we got our rhythm back.

02:10If she wasn't born that day, or I wasn't there to see her.

02:16It's amazing.

02:18It's a miracle.

02:22It's a miracle.

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