Twenty-six weeks pregnant, Scarlet and her husband, Jen, rushed across the island to Bermuda Hospital Emergency Department. “I had an early membrane rupture and I needed to be transferred out of Bermuda to receive specialized care. Mateo, my son, was in danger and under a lot of stress,” said Scarlet.
After an evaluation and testing, Scarlet and Jen’s insurance company referred them to a hospital in Canada but, because of an issue with their Venezuelan passports, they could not travel there. “We couldn’t get new passports and couldn’t go to Canada. That is when the insurance reached Philadelphia International Medicine (PHL Medicine), and they contacted the US government to help us with the process of getting the Visa to travel to Philadelphia,” said Jen.
With the paperwork ready and their bags full of hope, the three of them flew to the US to fight for an opportunity for Baby Mateo. “I was admitted to Thomas Jefferson Hospital, and the attention there was exceptional. They did all the tests they needed and verified the diagnosis given by our physician in Bermuda. They confirmed that we had a high-risk pregnancy and assigned a nurse that was almost wholly dedicated to me and Mateo, her name is Mallory. She, all the nurses, and the rest of the clinical staff are very loving and caring,” Scarlet remembers while smiling.
The nurses and the doctors monitored Scarlet and Mateo continually, asking her to let them know how she felt, and if something did not feel right, to tell them right away. “Not long after being admitted to the hospital, I told them that I had a certain kind of pain that I hadn’t had before. A lot of physicians and nurses appeared to review my case and determined that I needed an emergency C-section because our baby was suffering stress, and that wasn’t good,” mentioned Scarlet. “What I can tell you is that the nurses and physicians are real experts, they know what to do. I felt very safe with them.”
Baby Mateo was born and immediately admitted to the Neonatal ICU (NICU) to support his development while his mother recuperated from the surgery. “All the nurses were very involved in a level that I didn’t expect in the care of Scarlet and Mateo. They kept us informed all the time of every step in Mateo’s treatment,” said Jen.
“Regarding PHL Medicine, I’m pleased with all that they did for us. They helped us to find a place to stay that was very close to the hospital; we could walk to go there. Everything was close to the NICU, where Mateo stayed. Stephanie, the patient coordinator at PHL Medicine, was very accommodating; she was checking upon us all the time. We don’t have any family in Philadelphia, but they were there for us,” Jen recounts while sighing with relief.
“I remember that everybody at PHL Medicine and Thomas Jefferson Hospital would tell us: Mateo and your health are our priorities, we’ll solve everything related to paperwork or insurance. I always counted on their support. They made the whole situation easier for us,” concludes Scarlet. The dedicated teams from both Philadelphia International Medicine and Jefferson Health took care of every detail during Mateo, Scarlet and Jen’s stay in Philadelphia. The teams shared that “Witnessing how their health improved everyday was very motivating.”
After months of treatment in Philadelphia, the new family of three was cleared to fly back to Bermuda. Mateo, Scarlet and Jen flew home filled with hope, happiness and confidence that no matter where they were in the world, they could always count on their new ‘family’ in Philadelphia.
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