Hansa Patel, a woman of Hindu faith, experienced a miracle at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital. She survived an amniotic fluid embolism that occurred as she was about to deliver her second child by cesarean section (C-section). Her story highlights "interfaith action" at the hospital in Glendale Heights, Ill.

The 40-year-old was a high-risk patient who had experienced a former C-section delivery, a history of hypertension, and a tendency for fibroids to form in the uterus. Her obstetrician put her on anti-hypertension medicine and monitored her blood pressure regularly. He ordered repetitive ultrasounds to monitor the baby's growth as well as any fibroid action. When her pregnancy reached 30 weeks, he began weekly fetal monitoring.

During her office visit in her 34th week, her obstetrician, Jeffrey Lerch, saw a "non-reassuring" reading on the fetal monitor and sent her to Adventist GlenOaks Hospital for further monitoring. This led to the decision to proceed with a repeat C-section.

"It was late in the evening and we called in the operating room (OR) staff, an anesthesiologist, a neonatologist, and a surgical assistant," said Lerch, who recalled his patient was "her usual self, smiling and joking with the nurses" as he entered the OR.

Suddenly, she complained of shortness of breath and gasped for air. The patient was going into cardiac arrest. In the briefest time, Abdel Anwar administered anesthesia, and as Lerch performed an emergency C-section, another medical team worked feverishly to save the life of the mother, who experienced an embolism.

If this crisis had transpired at home, it is doubtful the patient would have survived. Its occurrence in the OR probably saved her life.

After the patient regained consciousness, she further recovered in the intensive care unit; however, her son Kris needed to be on a ventilator and spent a week in the Level III intensive care nursery at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital. He later returned to Adventist GlenOaks for another two weeks of care.

When his parents returned to Adventist GlenOaks to visit him, Delora Hagen, a GlenOaks chaplain, told Hansa, "You are a living miracle."

Hansa replied, "God has been so good to me. God gave me a miracle. There is a God above all gods and He gave me the miracle."

And so it was that a Hindu woman, a Jewish obstetrics/gynecology specialist, a Muslim anesthesiologist, a Seventh-day Adventist chaplain, and healthcare associates from a variety of religious confessions at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital came together to witness a miracle. During Nursing Grand Rounds, in which "CPR of the Pregnant Patient" was discussed, this miracle was further noted.

"People of all faiths regarded this as a miraculous situation. We felt the hand of God was in that OR," stated Lerch.

In Adventist Midwest Health, we too believe there is one God who is above all others, and to Him we give thanks and glory for this miracle.

Lynn Larson, Adventist Midwest Health, Lake Union Herald correspondent