Morgan Hibbard
North Texas mom undergoes complex surgery to treat life-threatening pregnancy condition. Today, she and her baby are doing great.
Morgan Hibbard noticed something wasn’t right when she was six weeks pregnant with her third child.
She began bleeding, so she and her husband, Trent, immediately went to see her doctor. At around 20 weeks pregnant, during a sonogram to investigate the problem, she got the official diagnosis: placenta accreta. The condition occurs when the placenta abnormally attaches to the uterine wall — and even to other organs — during pregnancy. If untreated, the placenta will not detach normally after the baby is born, leaving mom with a high risk of blood loss and other life-threatening conditions.
“It’s something no mom wants to face,” she says. “But my husband and I both prayed about it and believed, ‘Lord, whatever is ahead of us, you’ve got us in your hands.’”
Morgan also began researching to find the best place to have her condition carefully managed so that she and her baby girl would be safe. That led her to Medical City Women’s Hospital Dallas, part of Medical City Dallas, one of the leading birthing centers in the region. It features one of the state’s top placenta accreta programs, founded by Richard Cohen, MD, OB-GYN.
“We were so worried, but then I found out more and more about their program to treat high-risk pregnancies,” she says. “That gave us hope. Then we met Dr. Cohen and his team. They were incredibly compassionate — and they were also very focused on one thing: taking care of me and my baby.”
Morgan was hospitalized before delivery for over a month and remained there for a total of 43 days. During that time, she says that she received amazing care. “The antepartum nurses became like family. They were there through some of my hardest moments. The NICU doctors and nurses, the entire accreta delivery team, dietitians, custodians -- the list goes on and on. Each of them was such an important part of our story, caring for Hollis and me.”
Dad Trent adds: “Morgan ended up having one of the most serious forms of accreta. It was one of the most unique cases that Dr. Cohen and his team have seen. This is why you come to a specialist in these scenarios. They saved my wife’s life. I can’t put into words what that means.”
Today, Morgan and Trent watch their baby Hollis grow and thrive with her two older brothers. “What a blessing it is to have been cared for by the team at Medical City Dallas,” Morgan says. “I am forever grateful for them saving my life.”