Boston mom-to-be Ali V. and her husband, Matt, came to Scottsdale for a relaxing babymoon filled with sunshine, hiking and maybe a round of golf. Instead, they found themselves in the emergency room, facing a life-threatening heart condition that would change everything.
"I was really short of breath. I had a fever and shakes I could not control,” says Ali. She arrived at HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center around 3 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, where initial tests raised alarm bells for both mom and baby.
Calm in the chaos
Ali was transferred to HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center, where specialized cardiac, obstetric and neonatal teams quickly came together to assess her condition. Doctors discovered a severe infection in one of her heart valves that was causing dangerous leakage.
Known as infective endocarditis, the condition occurs when bacteria enter the bloodstream and infect the heart — something that's especially dangerous during pregnancy.
“It might not be a problem for an otherwise healthy person, but the risk increases with factors like underlying heart disease, heart valve problems or having a compromised immune system, says Christina S. Reuss, MD, board-certified cardiologist and independent member of the HonorHealth Medical Staff.
The day everything changed
Doctors planned to deliver the baby, then move quickly to repair Ali’s heart. “The chaos of it all truly felt like an out-of-body experience,” Matt recalls. “One minute we were on vacation. The next, we were talking about heart surgery and delivering our daughter months early.”
Within 24 hours of arriving at HonorHealth, the couple welcomed their daughter, Emilia, who was delivered by C-section far earlier than expected. Born weighing less than three pounds, she was cared for in the Level III NICU by a specialized neonatal team from Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Ali was taken into surgery for an open-heart procedure to repair the damage, under the care of a cross-specialty team that included Dr. Reuss and cardiothoracic surgeon Robert Riley, MD.
Ali’s heart infection was later traced to bacteria doctors suspect may have been introduced during a routine dentist visit. “The risk of bacteria entering the bloodstream from a dental cleaning is very low,” Dr. Reuss reassures.
When every moment matters
Today, mom and baby are back home in Boston and doing well — something that wouldn’t have been possible without the expert teams that came together in a moment of crisis. “This was a rapidly evolving situation,” Dr. Reuss recalls. “The only way to manage something this complex is through close collaboration and constant communication across teams.”
For Matt, what stands out most isn’t a single moment, but the collective effort behind it all. “This wasn’t one hero,” he says. “It was dozens of people showing up for us at every step. That’s what saved our family.”