This mom had spine surgery while pregnant and was ‘blown away’ by the quality of her care

Caitlin Reinard, 35, was thrilled to be expecting her first child.

But the Winston-Salem resident and Iraq War veteran began to be bothered by a 2021 cervical spine (neck) injury she sustained while on active duty. The injury had caused her some pain before – but it was always manageable with the help of a chiropractor, over-the-counter pain relievers and, occasionally, cortisone injections.

“Once you’re done with military training and you’re not conditioning every day of your life,” she said, “the old injuries start to show up.”

Reinard worked for Forsyth County Emergency Medical Services for several years before joining Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center's Heart & Vascular Institute team – she commutes from Winston-Salem – where she administers stress tests. ​But prior to that, she served as a paramedic in the U.S. Army for six years. She’s no stranger to working through pain.

But this was pain she couldn’t ignore.

“It was excruciating,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep on my left side because of the inflammation and compression on my spinal cord. The extra pressure on my spine from pregnancy caused it to be more painful.” ​

One day in 2024, the pain – radiating from her neck down her left arm – became so severe that she couldn’t lift her arm above chest level. An MRI showed a herniated disc – sometimes called a ruptured disc – was putting pressure on the spinal cord, which led to inflammation and compression of the nerves in her left arm.

She was referred to Dr. Chase Bennett, a spine surgeon with Novant Health Brain & Spine Surgery - Bermuda Run. When Reinard met with Bennett’s physician assistant, Michael Harris, on Nov. 18, 2024, she rated her pain at seven out of 10.

Bennett talked to Reinard’s OB-GYN team at Novant Health WomanCare - Winston-Salem and Dr. Kenneth Nelson, an anesthesiologist who cares for patients at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center.

Nelson has made a specialty out of overseeing anesthesia for both OB and neurological surgery patients. “He was a perfect fit for Caitlin’s surgery since he has expertise in both areas,” Bennett said.

Bennett discussed with Reinard the risks and benefits of operating now, versus waiting. “There’s a risk of preterm labor and of radiation exposure to the fetus,” he said. “But Caitlin was having a hard time functioning. How could she take care of a newborn when she’s having so much pain herself? She had significant weakness in that arm. Holding a child with a weak arm would be dangerous for everybody. We decided that proceeding with surgery would allow her time to recover before her baby was born.”

‘We were prepared’

A few days after Reinard rated her pain as a seven, Bennett operated on her at Forsyth Medical Center. That was Nov. 25, 2024. She was 31 weeks pregnant.

Reinard’s OB team was on standby in the operating room during the anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Leading the group was Dr. Eliza Hardy, the Novant Health WomanCare OB-GYN Bennett said “was on hand to help if needed, and we couldn’t have done it without her!”

“I was completely blown away by how many people were part of this,” Reinard said. “The OB team reassured me everything would be OK. That meant a lot because, as a mother, I worried I was putting my child in danger before I even met her. But I never had a doubt that she’d be taken care of.”

During an ACDF procedure, the surgeon makes a small incision in the front of the neck, removes the damaged disc or discs to relieve pressure on the spinal cord and then fuses the adjacent vertebrae together. ​

It’s a delicate procedure but one Bennett performs weekly. “There are some important things – arteries, your jugular, your esophagus – we have to work around to get to the front of the spine,” he said.

And in this case, the surgical team had to be concerned with both their patient and her unborn child.

“We were prepared,” Bennett said. “We had a fetal heart rate monitor. We shielded Caitlin’s abdomen from stray X -rays. Fortunately, there was never a time we worried about the health of the child or Caitlin. But if there had been, we had all the right people and tools in place to address it.”

When Reinard woke from surgery, a nurse asked how her pain was. She responded, “What pain?”

“The only pain I felt was where my incisions were,” she said. “The pain in my arm was completely gone. This surgery is amazing. Anyone who thinks orthopedic surgery is terrifying should know about the immediate relief you get from it. It’s incredible.”

Reinard said she’s grateful she didn’t wait to have surgery because she doesn’t think she’d be able to function as a new mother with her previous degree of pain.

“And to have surgery with an infant at home just wasn’t feasible for me,” she added. “I’m so grateful they were willing to do it while I was pregnant and that I had eight weeks to heal prior to Laena’s arrival.”

Reinard took her daughter’s name from the heroine, Celaena Sardothien, of a favorite novel, Sarah Maas’ “Throne of Glass.”

“The whole thing was seamless – the most seamless medical thing I’ve ever been part of,” she said. “I had serious anxiety prior to going in. But everyone was calming and made the experience just perfect.”

Bennett was pleased, too. “A whole lot of people – a community, really – took care of Caitlin,” he said. “And I give Caitlin a lot of credit, too. She was a wonderful patient and did everything we asked.”

Once home from the hospital after Laena was born Jan. 25, Reinard was able to do something she hadn’t done in months: sleep. “Now, I can sleep in any position,” she said. “I have absolutely no issues at all.”

The tired, but happy, new mom added, “Laena is the best reward after the last four months.”