09/09/2025
Claire learned at 16 that her aortic valve wasn't working correctly, causing blood to leak backward into her heart. Rather than having open-heart surgery right away, Claire would instead get annual echocardiograms, or heart ultrasounds, to keep an eye on the problem.
Every year, the results were the same. Until Claire was in her mid-30s and pregnant.
Claire was having trouble breathing. Doctors said her heart valve was too weak to survive the pregnancy and she needed a new one. Now.
Open-heart surgery would have been risky for the baby. After a month of back-and-forth between her doctors, Claire underwent a procedure known as TAVR, which inserts a new valve into the heart through a catheter without removing the old one. The procedure was so successful that Claire left the hospital the next day.
And Claire's heart handled the birth fine. Her baby boy, Milo was born healthy and happy.