Innovations Third Edition - Fall 2021

INNOVATIONS

THIRD EDITION

NBC

LOS ANGELES

RIVERSIDE COUNTY MAY 8, 2021 12:57 AM

Riverside County COVID-19 Survivor Welcomes Baby

This Mother’s Day will be special in more ways than one for a Riverside County mom. That’s because she survived a series of health scares during pregnancy including COVID-19.

TONY SHIN reports for NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on May 7, 2021.

14 THIRD EDITION

HeRCARe

HER STORY

BY: EMILY HWANG

It all began in September of 2019. Lataria Polk was pregnant and was experiencing increasing abdominal pain. Concerned, she drove herself to RUHS Medical Center where she passed out in the parking lot. Her next memory was getting rolled into the hospital and seeing bright lights. It happened to be Dr. Lenorre Clarke’s first day as a new obstetrician on-call at the hospital, when she was called to the emergency room. She quickly recognized the signs of shock due to a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and immediately transferred Lataria to the operating room. Dr. Clarke was able to remove the ruptured fallopian tube that had contained the pregnancy and stopped the bleeding. It was an experience that frightened Lataria who shared, “That’s it. No more. I’m done. I was terrified”. Hearing that it would be more difficult to achieve pregnancy due to the loss of a tube with increased risk of a repeat ectopic pregnancy, she accepted that she would likely never conceive another child. Less than a year later, Lataria was informed she was pregnant with twin girls. As a mother of four boys and wanting a little girl, she was thrilled. Unfortunately, one of the twins did not survive early in the pregnancy but she knew she had to be strong to carry the remaining twin to term. The pregnancy was further complicated when she acquired COVID-19. Dr. Clarke described the situation as “High risk upon high risk, but this is what we do.” In March of 2020, Kyra was born happy and healthy. Her middle name Journey is a reminder of how she got here and how her journey was harder than others, but worth the risk. Riverside University Health System Medical Center (RUHS- MC) focuses on serving the under-served women in the county and the HeRCARe program is dedicated to women like Lataria, who experience high risk problems in their pregnancy. Their work has allowed stories like Lataria Polk and her little miracle, Kyra Journey, to come to light.

Her middle name Journey is a reminder of how she got here and how her journey was harder than others, but worth the risk

RUHS INNOVATIONS15