A life-saving delivery insured that my shift could continue. I am Henry.

Maris arrived in the United States from the Philippines at age 4 and became a citizen at 14. Since then, she has been living the American dream at a breakneck pace. After high school, she earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston in Anthropology. Then she went on to get a bachelor’s in “Arts In History” from Arizona State University. And, still driven to do more, she obtained a master’s from the University of Michigan. Not ready to lock in on a single career, Maris worked as a cheerleading coach, a paraprofessional for a public school district, and even a nanny.

Then, Maris took on foster parenting, and cared for a total of 14 children from two all the way up to teenagers. Two were adopted and remain Maris’ kids today. She has a daughter serving in the army and a son studying at Eastern Michigan University. Maris knew as an adoptee herself, “I knew I wanted to adopt, but I also wanted to have biological children. They’re definitely both special, they’re both beautiful.”

Maris is also stepmom to two boys ages 9 and 11, “So we have a lot of kids, yeah.”

In 2022 it was time for Etta, Maris’ first bio-child to arrive. At Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, Etta was born in a very textbook, uncomplicated c-section, “We did have to come back two days later because she was jaundiced, but I really had a positive experience. I remember thinking… Man, the food is good. And the staff, they’re always so wonderful.” So, when pregnant with Sammy, Maris knew she wanted to return to Henry Ford West Bloomfield because, “they’re really great and the food’s good.”

Sammy’s birth was both ordinary and successful. He arrived via c-section, just like his older sister, “I felt really calm, I joked about Sammy’s funny ears being all squished up, and then I coded,” Maris recalls.

“It started off as a routine case. Baby came out, baby was crying,” said Neil S. Simmerman, M.D., “But then Maris started saying she wasn’t feeling very well, and, the next thing we knew, her heart stopped.” Maris was suffering an amniotic fluid embolism (AFE). The National Institutes of Health describes AFE as “one of the most catastrophic complications of pregnancy.” The rare event impacts 1 in 40,000 births each year in North America. The mortality rate is as high as 80 percent.

“The amount of knowledge in that room consisted cumulatively of hundreds of years of experience in medicine, yet none of us had seen this before,” Simmerman said of the team of more than 25 doctors, nurses and other professionals who ultimately provided Maris with life-saving care in the hours following Sammy’s birth and into the next several days.

A team of doctors and nurses spent a full 30 minutes performing CPR on Maris to keep blood moving through her body, meanwhile bleeding was so intense that that Dr. Simmerman’s team had to perform an emergency hysterectomy. Non-emergency surgeries were put on hold so that every member of the code team, the labor and delivery team, anesthesiologists and others could work to save Maris.

While Maris’ husband Nathan remained at the hospital overnight, so did Dr. Simmerman, “When we got her into the ICU, frankly, none of us knew if she would live through the night. I spent that first night in the hospital and checked on her every two hours,” he said. “Despite having survived the initial episode, we all knew that statistically, the likelihood of her returning to normal brain function was very low.”

The next morning when Maris opened her eyes and reacted to commands, it became clear that she had beaten the odds. “One of the first things I asked was ‘where is the baby, where are my kids?” Maris recalls. “And then I asked for a Frappuccino… while I was still intubated!” Soon, family came to visit, and Maris got Nathan to take a photo of her, still intubated, with her two teenage daughters. “Even intubated, and high on the meds, I’m still that embarrassing mom who wants to do a selfie.”

In addition to life-saving measures, Maris says the ICU team went above and beyond to make her comfortable, “I couldn’t be in the ideal position for anything, because I had all these broken ribs, but they had to put the port in my neck so I could have dialysis. And, it had to be a sterile field, so they put a drape over my head, and I’m claustrophobic. Then Janet Filek, P.A., asked me about music, and I mentioned my favorite local band, a ska band named Mustard Plug. So, she played ska music throughout the procedure to make me more comfortable. “

“They even put the baby on me to nurse while I was still intubated. I feel like others may have just gone, ‘She’s been through so much, let’s just keep her alive…’ But they knew it was important to me, and it worked! “Maris recalled.

With a smile, Maris says, “I got a chance to go back to the hospital on Sammy’s birthday, or as my best friends call it my ‘death day,’ but we celebrate both because I survived.” While there, she delivered cards and gifts to her very unique and special care team, “They didn’t give up. They were very determined. They were trained for something they may only see once in their career…. If I was anywhere else, I don’t know that I’d be here today.”

Less than two years later, if you met Maris, you would have no clue as to what she’s been through. Her energy and positivity are contagious. So, if you see a mom around Southeast Michigan toting two toddlers and a backpack, moving at a full sprint, it may just be Maris. And Maris is Henry.