Baby girl Pierson was born in early November in the Cayman Islands at just 27 weeks. Given her premature state, she was transported via air ambulance to Nicklaus Children's Hospital's NICU where it was discovered the natural opening in the heart between the aorta and pulmonary artery did not close on its own within the first few days of life. Often seen in premature neonates, persistent ductus arteriosus causes blood to return to the lung instead of the rest of the body, which leads to an overworked heart and lung that makes it harder to breathe.

In an effort to avoid the risk of transporting a fragile baby to another area of the hospital, Interventional Cardiologists and co-director of the Nicklaus Children's Heart Institute, Dr. Shyam Sathanandam, has pioneered a bedside transcatheter PDA closure technique that keeps babies in their own room during the procedure. Just a few days after baby girl Pierson was born, when she still weighed only 1.2 lb, a small catheter was placed through her vein to deliver a tiny device that seals the PDA from within all while she remained in her incubator, never disconnected from the ventilator and taking just 22 minutes from start to finish.

“I must say, after giving birth to my baby girl and not being able to immediately see her was challenging as it is,” says Gabriella, baby girl Pierson's mom. “Hearing she would need a procedure done to close part of her heart was even more difficult to hear but my faith, the team at Nicklaus Children's along with Dr. Sathanandam left me feeling reassured and confident that she was in good hands.”

Now weighing just over 5.5 pounds and breathing on her own, baby girl Pierson is now home with her parents and family where she will continue to flourish and grow. Gabriella mentioned she is most looking forward to reuniting with and bonding with her newborn daughter.