It’s an important moment when parents first hear their baby’s heartbeat.
But for Kimberly Ward, it’s more than just important. It’s something she never expected.
Kimberly has been deaf since she was in her teens.
“We have never been given a reason or explanation as to why I lost my hearing,” says Kimberly. “It took a while for my parents and doctors to refer me for audiology tests, as they believed I was lying and it was selective hearing.
“I found it a very difficult and upsetting experience as I started to struggle in school and I was also bullied because of it.”
But in June of this year, she found that she was a suitable candidate for a cochlear implant, a device that’s surgically implanted in the ear and can provide persons who are deaf or hard of hearing with “a representation of sounds that allows the patient to understand speech.”
Professor Chris Raine, who operated her, wanted to be able to put the device in her ear while she was pregnant, which was the first procedure of its kind.
“Being the first, we had to gain advice with the pharmacists and other consultants to ensure the drugs we were using posed no risk to the baby or its development,” he said. “We also had to monitor the baby’s development to determine the best time to carry out the surgery under local anesthetic. “
She had the implant put in when she was 17 weeks pregnant, the time the doctors said was the safest.
The first thing Kimberly heard was the sound of her baby’s heartbeat.
“Having the implant switched on was an overwhelming experience,” said Kimberly. “I know that no matter how much I read in advance or asked others for their experience, nothing could truly prepare you for the emotions you’d feel when I heard sound. It was even more special that one of the first things was to hear my child’s heartbeat.”
Dr. Raine said it was very important to him to do this surgery when he did. “I like to feel that we are helping Miss Ward fulfill her desire to be able to have the special moment of hearing her child for the first time. If we were not able to safely put in the implant, then it would have been months after she gave birth before she would have been able to have surgery.”
Now, Kimberly will spend her time learning how to use the implant, and is looking forward to hearing her baby cry.
