Saida was told she had a heart condition at 5 years old, but at that time she was told there were not procedures to fix her condition. She never had any trouble with her breathing as a child, but did notice her lips and fingers might turn blue in the cold and she never played sports in school as she felt tired with strenuous exercise. She married Mohamed and at that time Saida was not aware she had low oxygen level. When she came to the US in 2014, her primary care doctor noted her oxygen level was low at 85% and referred her to a cardiologist. She was later referred to the Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) specialists at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and ultimately underwent a complex cardiac surgery at MGH which corrected her heart condition and normalized her oxygen levels. Although her heart condition was repaired, she and Mohamed were aware that her heart condition was not cured. They knew that carrying a pregnancy would still be high risk even after the surgery, but that having this surgery would allow them the possibility of potentially having a family one day now that Saida’s oxygen levels were normal. After the surgery Saida worked very hard to keep her heart healthy by exercising regularly, eating well and following very closely with her heart doctors. The couple became pregnant in 2020 and were managed very closely by cardiologists and obstetricians. She developed fluid buildup (heart failure), abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), and high lung pressures (pulmonary hypertension) due to her congenital heart condition during pregnancy. As her doctors specialized in congenital heart disease and pregnancy, they were able to anticipate her heart’s unique needs during the pregnancy, manage the fluid and arrhythmias very closely to allow her to carry the pregnancy longer than her body would have naturally allowed.

Saida was admitted to MGH at 31 weeks gestation for management of her heart as her heart failure was becoming worse. With the help of a large multidisciplinary team of cardiologist, obstetrical, anesthesia doctors and nurses at MGH, Saida underwent a carefully planned Cesarean-section in the cardiac operating room on many heart supporting medication and she was cared for in the ICU for several days. Mohamed was able to stay in Boston close to his wife and son during this very critical and challenging time due to the support of HeartFelt Dreams Foundation. She delivered baby Omar at 3.9 pounds on February 22,2021 and he did terrifically well in the neonatal intensive care unit steadily gaining weight. Saida has continued to require very close cardiology monitoring with her doctors and baby Omar is now 11 pounds and thriving!