This Local Hospital’s Cardiac Program is Making Pregnancy Possible for Many Moms

Kelsey Soffer doesn’t like being told No.

Take, for example, having a baby. Soffer, 34, was told that she would never conceive after her childhood cancer treatment, but at age 27, she and her husband discovered they were pregnant. Her son, Paulie, came at only 32 weeks, and although he spent some time in the NICU, he was a healthy baby boy. Soffer, however, lost consciousness immediately after giving birth, and was sent to the ICU. She was diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM). A dangerous condition where the heart chamber is enlarged and the heart muscle weakens, PPCM occurs during late pregnancy or early postpartum and contributes to over a third of late postpartum pregnancy-related deaths, particularly among vulnerable populations.

Soffer was fortunate that her PPCM resolved, but she was told she should never get pregnant again. Soon after she faced another challenge: breast cancer. Caught early and treated successfully, the diagnosis temporary shelved her thoughts on whether or not to expand her family.

Until, that is, she heard Dr. Lisa Levine, a maternal fetal medicine specialist, and Dr. Jennifer Lewey, a cardiologist, discussing a case like hers on the news. The two lead Penn Medicine’s Pregnancy & Heart Disease Program, which helps cardiac patients navigate high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Levine had also treated Soffer’s cousin.
“It opened doors to me that there was a possibility of having another baby,” Soffer says.

Pregnancy causes many physiologic changes to the body—the heart in particular. This can exacerbate current conditions, unmask underlying heart conditions or trigger new ones. Penn’s program helps women with chronic heart conditions like cardiomyopathy or those with congenital heart disease, while also supporting those who develop cardiac issues during pregnancy.

Admittedly scared, she met with Drs. Levine and Lewey. The Penn team put Soffer through extensive testing to assess whether her heart could handle a pregnancy. During preconception counseling, they reviewed medications, performed cardiac stress tests and echocardiograms, and developed a comprehensive monitoring plan.

“Drs. Lewey and Levine, they encouraged me that I could have a baby and that I would be ok in the end,” Soffer says. “I whole- heartedly trusted them through this process to have another child.”

Throughout her pregnancy, the team monitored Soffer closely. She texted her blood pressure readings weekly and received iron infusions for anemia.

At 32 weeks, her water broke, and she delivered her daughter by C-section with minimal complications. While the delivery was relatively smooth, Soffer was readmitted to the hospital twice—first for low hemoglobin requiring a blood transfusion, then for fluid retention. Her Penn team quickly performed a catheterization to check for fluid around her heart—it was clear—and prescribed a diuretic to help her system flush out the fluid.

This time, having a team familiar with her history made all the difference. “Having them know what happened last time made it so much more comforting,” she says. “I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t feel supported by the doctors.”

Being at an academic institution like Penn Medicine also allowed her to be part of ongoing research efforts, including a large research study evaluating pregnancy outcomes in patients with heart disease. Coincidentally, that study is called the HOPE study; Soffer named her daughter Hope.

As a two-time cancer survivor, Soffer knows the importance of taking care of her body—and that you need to trust yourself and your medical team. “I knew deep down I could have a child again after being told not to do it,” she says. “If someone tells me no, I’ll find a way to do it.”