Texas mom declared 'clinically dead' during labor forgot she gave birth to triplets

A Texas mother of four reportedly forgot that she gave birth to triplets after flatlining several times within a 45-minute timespan in August. According to Marisa Christie, moments after she gave birth to her three girls at Memorial Hermann, The Woodlands Medical Center North in Houston, Marisa Christie suffered a rare post-birth complication.

“The doctors had pulled all three [babies] out. Actually, they were resting them on my stomach to do a delayed cord clamping,” Christie told the Today Show. “My arms flew up, and that was when my heart stopped.” According to the outlet, the 30-year-old mother had experienced are condition called amniotic fluid embolism.

It was reported that the embolism per the Mayo Clinic, is “a rare condition that happens when the fluid that surrounds the baby during pregnancy, called amniotic fluid, or fetal material such as fetal cells enters a pregnant person's bloodstream.” Christie allegedly spent a week unconscious and when she awoke, she learned that she had actually delivered three baby girls.

“My husband was like, ‘Hey, so we had the babies. They’re healthy and great,’ ” Christie, who is also mom to a 4-year-old son, told the outlet. “I was absolutely terrified … How could I not remember having my babies?” The woman stated that when she got to meet her other children, the entire thing felt "surreal."

“I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know these babies. This is very strange. They feel like they’re not real. They feel like they’re not mine,’ ” she said. “It took a little bit to get that connection with them.”

While the children had been delivered by Christie’s maternal-fetal medicine physician, Dr. Amber Samuel, it was her anesthesiologist, Dr. Ricardo Mora, who noticed that the woman was she was seizing. Mora stated that he was able to recognize the signs due to the fact that he had witnessed another mother seize during a birth 15 years ago.

“She [was] essentially gray. I knew something terrible just occurred,” Mora told Today, adding of the complication, “It’s pretty catastrophic. When it occurs, it’s about 80%, 85% fatal.”

“I asked Dr. Samuel what she had done. She related to me that she had just started pulling the placenta out and that’s usually the time when this occurs — the separation of the placenta and uterus,” he continued. The doctor added that “She wasn’t breathing" and “We started CPR because she had no pulse.”

Both doctors rushed to place Christie on an ECMO machine, which works for both the heart and lungs. “She essentially lost what we consider her whole blood volume,” Mora said. “We replaced her blood volume. So, for 45 minutes, she was clinically dead.”

“You can do the best CPR in the world, but if you don’t get enough blood to the brain, essentially they are alive but with brain damage,” he added. “I needed her to live to raise her kids. So, it was a personal thing for me.”

According to the outlet, doctors tried to avoid performing a hysterectomy, but when the woman started hemorrhaging, there no other option than to remove her uterus. Thankfully, nine weeks later Christie was able to return home and one week later all three babies were cleared by the hospital.

Christie told the Today Show that the entire experience was life-changing for her. “I feel very disconnected to whoever [I] was before,” she said. “I’ve gotten stronger, but I’ve also changed so much because going through a traumatic experience like that changes the way you view things.”

“It’s rare, but it does happen,” she said. “There were so many miracles that led up to me living instead of dying and we’re grateful." In response, Chirstie's brother set up a GoFundMe to help pay for medical bills. As of Thursday, the campaign had raised $22,545 out of its $25,000 goal.