Ecmo machine

[bumbiddybiddy]

My mother was on an ecmo machine after having a huge heart operation, I couldn't be with her as I was due to give birth any day and was told it wasn't recommended to be around the machine at that stage in pregnancy, why is this? I have been thinking about her a lot at this time of year (she passed away 2 years ago) I can't make much sense of it and didn't think to ask the doctors at the time.

It may sound very naive of me but I was going through a lot of stress, my husband had Covid, I was due to give birth in a week and my mother was on the cusp of death.

I don't even know the point of this thread, perhaps to know why I wasn't allowed near her on the ecmo machine, and your experiences with loved one on it?

I think in amongst the stress of everything you may have ended up misinformed. ECMO is used in pregnancy if a mum is severely unwell so the machine is safe - maybe it was something else like portable xray that was the problem?
I'm very sorry for your loss. My Dad died while I was pregnant and it was extremely difficult.

It looks really horrible. All the patient's blood is taken out of their body and re oxygenated by the machine and then put back.

Also there are 2 nurses and a perfusion dr who is monitoring the patient and the machine at all times so usually no relatives are allowed to be present because space is at a premium. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's a huge machine. Maybe they were concerned about you going into labour when you saw her?

Also if she had Covid that's a concern when you were very pregnant. Or your husband who had Covid could have been a risk to your mum.

You can ask the hospital for a debrief and the drs who treated your mum can answer some questions. As a dr I'm always happy to answer any questions

I'm very sorry for your loss.

It might have been something as simple, and badly worded, as there probably wasn’t much space in the room with her. And you, being heavily pregnant, would have taken up more room than most.

and was told it wasn't recommended to be around the machine at that stage in pregnancy, why is this?

You will have misheard/misinterpreted something as that’s not right.

Maybe it was they were saying it was better not to go into the hospital due to risk of catching Covid when you were nearly due to give birth? Nothing else makes sense frankly.

I wonder if it's because seeing a loved one on ecmo is really quite shocking and they didn't want to risk upsetting you and putting you into labour in an unsuitable place.

A patient on ecmo is on a high dose of blood thinners but this is in a closed system.

My mother's suffered ischemia in her limbs after being on the machine for 11 days. Is this very common? I didn't get to see her at all and my brother told me I wouldn't have wanted to see her that way

@bumbiddybiddy yes it's a known complication; sadly if they put her on it as an emergency it can cause it. Again I am so sorry for your loss.