This past summer was a scary time for Kala Breder and her family. As she awaited the arrival of her third child, a baby boy, Kala began experiencing bleeding at 33 weeks pregnant as a result of placenta previa. After her baby failed to respond to a non-stress test, the decision was made to deliver him via emergency C-section. Her son, Channing, made his arrival at 12:12 a.m. on July 16 and was airlifted to St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Later that day, as Kala continued to recover, she passed out and was rushed for emergency surgery due to internal bleeding. Once she was stable, Kala was also airlifted to St. Louis.
Throughout this time, her doctor, Quincy Medical Group OB/GYN Dr. Jean Alexandre, was there. She shared her story with us.
“The team here had exhausted all of the blood resources within 45 miles of Quincy and it took 32 units of blood before I was stable enough to fly. Everyone prayed. I think the whole city of Quincy prayed for me. People prayed all over the country for me.”
Her healthcare team thought Kala would be in the ICU in St. Louis for four days, and she was only there 32 hours. She was holding her baby 40 hours after landing in St. Louis.
“When I woke up in the ICU, I wrote a note. I was on a ventilator and couldn’t talk, and one of my first questions was is Dr. Alexandre coming to St. Louis to finish the surgery because I didn’t want anyone else in the world to work on me. I had complete faith in him and that he would do what was right for my baby and me.”
She is forever thankful for Dr. Alexandre, who, Kala says, holds a special place in her heart. While she was in St. Louis, Dr. Alexandre drove down to see for himself that she was ok.
Through tears, she says, “Dr. Alexandre went above and beyond, just like he did with the birth of my other two children. He is my angel here on Earth. After all this, I thanked him for saving my life. This is how selfless he is. He said ‘I didn’t do it; God and your fight to survive did it.’ But, in the end, it really came down to him. He kept my heart pumping. He won’t take credit for it, but he definitely saved my life.”