Fetal Transport Team helps mom in need

Sharonda Marshall was 21 weeks into her first pregnancy and things were not going well. 

She had been admitted to an area community hospital and doctors were having a hard time pinpointing what was wrong with her. She couldn’t stop vomiting, was dehydrated and her liver enzymes were elevated. 

On top of that, there was what she calls “a crazy turn of events.”

Her husband Ryan had also been admitted to the hospital due to his involvement in a car accident while on his way to visit her. And her mother had just been diagnosed with cancer.

Sharonda was alone, scared and convinced that her pregnancy wasn’t going to end well.

A week into her hospital stay, her mystified doctors decided she should be moved to the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Enter the Children’s Mercy Maternal Fetal Transport team.

“I remember we laughed the whole way (to KUMC). I don’t know how that happened,” Sharonda says. “They just made me very comfortable and kept my mind at ease even though I was puking the whole way. They also kept telling me that they felt like there was going to be a positive outcome.”

Once the ambulance arrived at KUMC, the transport team stayed with Sharonda until doctors came to examine her. She was never given a definitive diagnosis. 

Nevertheless, the Maternal Fetal Transport team's prediction was spot on. Sharonda carried her baby to term and gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Aiden. He is now 20 months old and will become a big brother next Spring.

That’s right, Sharonda is pregnant with a girl and this time things seem to be going better. 

“I was wondering about a week ago (at her 21-week mark) how they (the transport team) were doing, and that it’d be nice to see them again, but also how glad I am that I don’t have to,” she says.

A day or two later, she got a call to schedule a photo shoot for this calendar, and there they were.

Sharonda was delighted to have a happy reason to visit with people who'd made her laugh and kept her optimistic during a scary and lonely time.

Learn more about the Children's Mercy Maternal Fetal Transport team