Dr. Paul Wilkes at Desert Perinatal Associates has delivered more than 10,000 babies during his career. His specialty is high-risk pregnancies, where either the mother or the baby could be dealing with additional health challenges.
Recently, Wilkes was asked to help a family in a different high risk situation.
A pregnant mother was trapped in Kiev, Ukraine, watching bombs fall on homes close by. Her husband found a unique way to get them out of the country, and the only way to do it was to ask an American doctor to take his wife on as a patient.
Senior Producer Kristen Kidman spoke to Wilkes about what it took to get this family to safety, and the birth he’ll never forget.
He’s been in Las Vegas since 1971 and has been delivering babies for 27 years, now at Southern Hills Hospital. Tatiana, his patient, and her husband Sasha were living in Kyiv while she was pregnant.
Sasha contacted the doctor in April through Facebook, saying they heard about him through another patient they were friends with. At the time, she was 27 weeks pregnant.
Wilkes said they had video of Russian warplanes bombing their neighborhood. They fled to Austria and made their way to Italy. From there, Tatiana flew to Los Angeles then drove to Las Vegas. It took a while longer before Sasha could rejoin her.
“I can relate on many different levels, you know, certainly, as a husband, I couldn't imagine the feeling of helplessness when your wife is in this very dangerous situation, much less than this dangerous situation, pregnant with your first child, and you can't be by her side. I think I connected with that very quickly,” Wilkes said.
He called himself fortunate to be able to help them.
“I've been in touch with them since their delivery. And everyone's fine. Everyone's happy and healthy, and they're still in Las Vegas, and will probably remain here through her postpartum course, then join family and friends back in Los Angeles,” he said.
Dr. Paul Wilkes, OB/GYN, Southern Hills Hospital