Woman On Dialysis Gives BirthUPDATED: 9:39 am CDT May 2, 2008
SAN ANTONIO -- A San Antonio woman was told she would never be able to conceive after going on dialysis. Her doctors now call her a medical miracle after she gave birth to a baby girl.
Rita Ferrel, 37, has end stage renal disease. She receives dialysis treatments three days a week and was told women on dialysis are unable to get pregnant. But one day Ferrel told her nurse that she had missed her period.
"By the time my treatment was over that day, I knew I was pregnant for sure," Ferrel said.
Only 1 percent of dialysis patients are able to conceive and in rare cases does the pregnancy make it past 12 weeks.
After finding out she was pregnant, Ferrel began receiving dialysis treatments six times a week instead of three.
"Everyday we're doing the daily dialysis," said nurse Gina Medina. "Every week, the lab work, checking blood pressure, keeping in close contact with her OB. She had a high risk obstetrician."
Ferrel gave birth to Veronica Ayiya Eugenia Vargas nine weeks early. The baby weighed 2 pounds at birth.
"I never thought I'd be able to have another child," Ferrel said. "God gave me another child and she's perfect."
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