A family’s fate forever altered: LAMC saves two lives

Contractions began the night of her due date, signaling the on-schedule conclusion of a perfectly healthy pregnancy. Bags were packed, and a trip to Santa Fe was all planned to welcome the Bachman family’s second child into the world. But just hours later, Hannah Bachman found herself in a terrifying emergency fighting for two lives.

“Everything was going fine and normal,” recalled the Los Alamos resident of that moment just more than one month ago. “And then, in the morning, my water broke and it was just pure blood.”

Hannah was severely hemorrhaging due to a placental abruption – a sudden, unexpected complication in which the placenta detaches from the uterus. The complication can result in death for the mother and baby if not quickly treated.

Emergency services arrived immediately after she and her husband called 911, with first responders quickly ushering Hannah by ambulance to Los Alamos Medical Center’s emergency room. Unfamiliar with the hospital and questioning emergency room and obstetric services based on misinformation that she had read online, Hannah told her husband to say goodbye to their 2-year-old son for her. “I really believed I was going to die.”

But now, doing very well herself and holding healthy 1-month-old baby girl Violet in her arms, Hannah is eternally grateful that things played out exactly as they did – and when they did, as luck would have it. 

“Thank goodness we didn’t try to drive down to Santa Fe,” she said. “We’re so lucky to have Los Alamos Medical Center (LAMC). Forty-five minutes is a big deal in a lifesaving emergency. Having LAMC there saved my life. There was absolutely no chance that we would have made it down the hill. The doctor told us that just 20 more minutes would have been catastrophic.”

Fast action and a stroke of luck

What happened inside the hospital were heroic actions that proved everything Hannah had heard about LAMC was wrong. 

“From the moment I came in through the doors, everyone was all hands on deck. I was really impressed with how fast and smooth they were. I’m an emergency veterinarian, so I know how chaotic things can be, but I was really impressed by the swift and smooth teamwork at LAMC. They were right on it. They were so fast that I didn’t need a transfusion.”

Leading the charge was Daniel Marancenbaum, MD, an OB/GYN who just so happened to have changed up his usual morning routine that day. Dr. Marancenbaum almost always walks to work, but not this morning, as he drove to work and found himself entering the hospital just as Hannah was rushed through the ER doors.

“The only day in two years he decided to drive to work was that day, and so he got there right when I did,” Hannah said. “He had heard the words ‘hemorrhage’ and ‘pregnant woman’ and called anesthesia right away. It’s an instance where being a small hospital was what made it happen.”

Further serendipity arrived in the forms of the operating room already being prepped and extra staff being on hand – team members who just so happened to be present for a morning training and who would have already left the hospital on any other day.

The experienced OB/GYN got Hannah right into a cesarean section surgery under general anesthesia, recognizing the situation was a life-or-death race against a ticking clock. Hannah recalled that Dr. Marancenbaum and the anesthesia team were supremely comforting and encouraging, delivering a message of “we’ve got you.”

After surgery, further complications arose requiring a second intervention, but Hannah again remembers the calming presence of Dr. Marancenbaum. “He said, ‘I’ve seen this before,’ and I felt reassured that he knew exactly what to do.”

“And before I knew it, my baby came on my chest and I was just stunned,” Hannah said. “I couldn’t believe how healthy she was after what she went through.”

A recovery full of compassion

Hannah was more than ready for quiet time to recover, heal and bond with baby Violet after such a traumatic ordeal. Once again, she found the LAMC team was more than accommodating in meeting her needs.

“The care I got postpartum was outstanding; everyone was warm and nice. The nurses were so kind and sweet,” she said. “It was nice to have some human interaction. And everyone was lovely and it was so quiet. It just felt really safe and intimate.”

Dr. Marancenbaum continued to be a huge advocate, routinely checking in to monitor Hannah both physically and emotionally.

“It felt like he really cared about her,” husband Rayne said. “He’s a really good, caring person.”

And it wasn’t just the patient care team that left a lifelong-lasting impression on the Bachmans. From the leadership team offering well wishes to the facilities maintenance team fixing a broken thermostat right away to the dietary team delivering a special celebratory meal, Hannah said she was blown away.

With their family of four forever changed from this experience, Hannah said it’s important that community members don’t ever take things like fire stations and emergency rooms for granted. In this instance, they were unexpected lifesaving blessings. “Thanks to the team at LAMC, not only were two lives saved, but I was able to return home to my son, Max, who I thought I would never see again. For that, I am beyond grateful.”

“There was this labor that I had planned in Santa Fe that was going to be this easy, no big deal, low-risk thing and suddenly my life was saved in Los Alamos,” she said.