Jenny Lindo, diagnostic sonographer, performs a sonogram on Sara Hahn, of Brewster, at the Women’s Clinic at St. Catherine Hospital.
When Sara Hahn arrived at the
Women’s Clinic at Centura Health – St. Catherine Hospital for her regular
checkup in February 2019, she was just shy of 18 weeks pregnant and expecting
her appointment with Dr. Kimberly West, OB/GYN, to be a routine one.
But after placing the handheld fetal Doppler against Sara’s belly, Dr. West
spoke five words that will fill any expectant mother with dread: We can’t get a
heartbeat.
Sara didn’t have to wait long for her worst fears to be confirmed. Clinic staff
moved quickly to get her in for an ultrasound, which showed she had indeed lost
her baby. Then, after consulting with Dr. West, Sara was able to schedule the
necessary follow-up surgery for the next day.
When Sara thinks back on that day, though, she is grateful she didn’t have to
wait long for the confirming ultrasound and was able to schedule surgery
quickly. She called it “the perfect scenario to an imperfect situation.”
“Luckily, all the stars aligned, and I was able to go directly into an
ultrasound room and we were able to find out, sadly, that our child had been
born right into the arms of Jesus,” she said.
With only one ultrasound machine in the clinic and patient volumes growing and
causing a backlog, scenarios like Sara’s are becoming less and less common.
Sara would like more women to have quick access to sonograms, which is why she
was excited to learn that this year’s annual St. Catherine Hospital Development
Foundation Gala, with a Masquerade Ball theme, is raising money toward the
purchase of a second ultrasound machine for the Women’s Clinic.
The Masquerade Ball is set for 6 p.m. March 7 in the St. Catherine cafeteria.
Tickets are $100 each and can be purchased at The Nook gift shop at St.
Catherine or online at https://schdfoundation.com/gala.
The event will begin with a cocktail hour, followed by dinner and a live
auction of artwork created by Dr. Patricia Miller, OB/GYN at the Women’s
Clinic. Guests can dance to the music of the seven-piece band Twice on Sunday
of Kansas City.
“We’re really passionate about this because I couldn’t have imagined having to
wait hours to have an ultrasound when you’re already nervous,” said Sara,
herself an X-Ray technician at Centura Health affiliate Rawlings County
Hospital in Atwood. “And then having to wait to have another appointment with
Dr. West, whereas mine was an immediate flow of door to door to door – a
perfect sequence of events.”
Had clinic staff not been able to work her in for a sonogram, Sara might have
had to wait a few hours for one at St. Catherine, which likely would have meant
a delay in scheduling surgery. That wouldn’t have been ideal for any patient,
but especially one like her, who commutes 122 miles to the clinic from her home
in Brewster in northwest Kansas.
If her surgery been delayed a day or two, she likely would have driven back to
Brewster in an emotional state of mind. With surgery the following day, she was
able to stay overnight with her parents in Garden City.
“When you’re in an emotional state, you probably shouldn’t be on the highway as
much because there are just a lot of tears happening,” Sara said.
Dr. West estimates that 40 percent of the pre-natal patients at the Women’s
Clinic could be involved in a high-risk pregnancy – the type that requires more
frequent sonograms. with an increasing number of high-risk patients requiring
them weekly, one machine and technician can’t meet the demand.
“The implications of not being able to provide this service in our practice is
(to have to send) patients elsewhere,” Dr. West said. “Maybe patients have to
come back on a separate day for their ultrasound and a different day for their
appointment with me, and you just don’t want to do that when patients have to
drive.”
A second ultrasound machine would make the Women’s Clinic an even more viable
choice for expectant mothers in southwest Kansas.
“We would like to be able to offer our patients better access to ultrasound
testing to reassure patients, and their physician, that their baby is doing
just fine,” Dr. West said.
Sara and her husband, Derek, are expecting again, with a baby girl due April 3.
“We’re incredibly excited and blessed, and ready to hold this baby in our
arms,” she said.
Sara is having sonograms almost every appointment now and is excited that the
clinic will be getting another ultrasound machine.
“We choose to come down here because this is where we feel we can get the best
care for ourselves and for our baby, whenever they arrive in this world,” she
said.
