Placenta accreta poses a real risk to losing both mother and child during delivery. Today ICAN honors and remembers those lost to accreta. Thank you to the families that have chosen to share their loved ones’ stories. ICAN will always remember the loved one lost: the children that lost their mother, the mom that lost her baby, and the difficult journey the families travel.
Lauren Elizabeth Bernhardt Gunderson
~ Mother of four beautiful children, wonderful sister, daughter, wife, and friend.
Lauren’s favorite foods were Mexican, chocolate ice cream, peanut butter kiss cookies, and yellow cake with chocolate frosting. She married the love of her life, her Prince Charming. She loved to fish, shop, and spend time with her family. Lauren could always make you laugh and bring a smile to your face when you were down.
When Lauren became pregnant with her fourth child, she told us she had placenta accreta and would have to have a hysterectomy once the baby was delivered. We had no idea what accreta was or the impact it was going to have in the days to come. Lauren told the family that the worst case scenario would be that she could die but she had a team of doctors that would take care of her and all would be okay. She was put on bedrest in the hospital and told that she would not go home until the baby was born. When Lauren was admitted to the hospital, she had no idea, nor did the family, of the life change that was going to happen within the next couple of weeks. 
Almost two months early, Lauren was told that the baby was going to have to be delivered. After she was taken back to delivery, the family anxiously waited to hear about the baby and how Lauren was doing. After a long wait, her husband, Tim, came out to let the family know that the baby boy was here and named Traesyn Alan but Lauren was not doing as well. After some additional time, the doctor came out and stated that they had done everything they could do but, due to the circumstances of the placenta accreta, Lauren had passed away. The doctor was speechless and truly didn’t know what to say – this was his first death due to accreta. The family was devastated. We made calls until the wee hours of the morning and then waited to say our goodbyes to our precious Lauren. Our hearts were broken. Our lives would never be the same.
Lauren chose to give her life for her new baby. The four beautiful children that she had will now live with memories of her that the family carries.
Since Lauren has passed away, we have learned a lot about accreta and try to get the word out. Our family has always been close but now we are even closer. We hug each other a little tighter and share all the memories we can of our precious Lauren. Remember: Yesterday is a memory. Today is a gift. Tomorrow is not promised. Please spread awareness of placenta accreta and help families understand the seriousness of it, if you can.
Lauren is thought of every second of every day and she is never forgotten. Her children are our special gift that she has left us and we enjoy them each and every day!
God Bless You All ~ The Bernhardt-Gunderson Families
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