A Rare Heart Condition During Pregnancy Leads Joplin Woman to Saint Luke’s

First-time expecting mom and patient advocate Barbara Willis, 42, developed numbness in her right arm, blindness in her left eye, and a headache that felt like lightning on her face. The sudden changes in symptoms led her to seek emergency care, on Nov. 22, 2025, at her local hospital.

“At the hospital, the top number of my blood pressure kept going up and they couldn't figure out what was going on with me,” the Joplin, Missouri, resident says. “Having a family history of cardiac issues, my family and I asked for an echo, or an ultrasound of my heart, and I could see in the face of the man doing the test that something was wrong.” 

When Barbara told her echo technician she had been experiencing the headache for 24 hours, the room became suddenly became busy, with a cardiology team arriving in seconds to help find the source of her symptoms.

At 33 weeks pregnant, Barbara was diagnosed with type A aortic dissection, a life-threatening condition where a tear occurs in the aorta, which is the main artery carrying blood from the heart to the body.

“I knew that it was probably going to be an extensive surgery, but the only thing I worried about was if my baby was going to be okay,” she says. “I was five days out from my consultation to have a hysterectomy when I found out I was pregnant with her, and I never thought I could get pregnant—she was a little miracle in herself.”

Because Barbara's local hospital wasn't equipped to perform the surgeries she needed, she was transported to Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City for an emergency cesarean section and open-heart surgery. 

Once she arrived in Kansas City, Saint Luke’s cardiovascular, OB-GYN, and NICU teams worked quickly to save both Barbara and baby Averie. 

Leanna Mosher, MD, a board-certified obstetrician gynecologist with Saint Luke's Hospital Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists, delivered Averie, the first baby born in the cardiac surgery operating room. After the delivery, the cardiovascular team was able to work on treating Barbara's type A aortic dissection.

“Emergent repair of acute type A aortic dissection is a very complex procedure, even without the concurrent condition of pregnancy,” says Alexander Pak, MD, a board-certified and fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeon with Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute.

After replacing the aorta with a prosthetic graft, Dr. Pak repaired her heart valves and then used a heart-lung machine to put the blood back into her body. 

“Our team is accustomed and trained to handle big emergencies. This is what they do daily, and it makes me happy to be here because they are exceptional at what they do,” says Dr. Pak.

“The teamwork and cooperation were amazing, and Dr. Mosher and her team, our cardiac anesthesiologist Dr. Matt Schwartz and his team, and our heart-lung perfusion teams’ abilities to safely accomplish both surgeries were truly remarkable. Also, the intensivists in the cardiac surgery and neonatal ICU were integral in ensuring successful outcomes."

The procedures happened the night before Barbara’s birthday, meaning she and Averie would forever share nearly the same special day.

“For my birthday, I got open heart surgery and a baby; but Dr. Pak and the teams were just amazing,” she says. “They brought Averie up from the NICU to see me in my room, which was the first time I got to see her. Everybody was just amazing to my family and me, including Lindsey who was her main NICU nurse, and she became family because she had Averie from the moment she was born.”

Barbara and Averie stayed in the hospital for two and a half weeks to recover and were discharged in mid-December. During this time, she recalled how Averie “was a little trooper,” breathing on her own two days after the C-section and breastfeeding at 36 weeks.

Averie is almost eight pounds now and growing without any issues. Barbara recently saw Dr. Pak, who said everything is looking good on her CT scans.

While Barbara continues to recover and adjust to new mom life, she hopes to get back to her favorite activities soon—including running and lifting weights—and isn't taking her health for granted.

The new mom took it easy on movement while recovering but can now go back to normal activity, and she hopes to be more active in the future.

“The doctor said that I was a miracle, let alone the little baby, because the mortality rate for what happened to me is high without being pregnant, so it was a miracle that I made it through,” Barbara says.

Mid America Heart & Lung Surgeons is proud to be a part of Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, the third hospital in the U.S to achieve Comprehensive Cardiac Center certification from The Joint Commission. Saint Luke’s Hospital Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists work collaboratively to serve the increased needs of high-risk pregnancies. Our experts are part of multidisciplinary teams providing leading-edge treatments and specialized care for complex conditions. Learn more about our heart services.