CINCINNATI —

Doctors are working to determine what caused a Buffalo Bills football player to collapse after taking a hit during the Monday night game with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Bills defensive player Damar Hamlin is being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where experts are looking at all possibilities.

“They’re looking at his coronary arteries, looking at his heart musculature, looking at his potential for arrhythmias and whatnot, and seeing if those are the predominant cause,” said the co-director of the sports cardiology center at Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Tamamna Singh. “That will dictate what the treatment strategy will be.”

Singh said what happened during the hit is also a major factor.

“Blows to the chest can also trigger abnormal heart rhythms that can cause cardiac arrest. So, there's a whole host of things that we want to evaluate before we kind of speculate what the cause was in this particular case,” Singh said.

Among the most important part of the treatment was the attention given immediately on the field.

Medical teams used an electronic device known as an AED.

“What it stands for is an automated external defibrillator, meaning if you put the pads on and you don't need to be shocked, it's not going to call for a shock. So, it is truly automated,” said American Heart Association Alyson Poling.

Poling said CPR compressions were also important to circulate oxygen to the brain.

“As an adult, we have a lot of oxygen built up, but if nothing is circulating that oxygen, things will start to die off. So, truly what we call hands only or that compressions on the chest is first and foremost, especially in adults,” Poling said.

CLEVELAND — Earlier this year, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic successfully performed a rare surgery to save an unborn baby's life.

"I have people tell me he's definitely a miracle, that he's a gift from God, and he's meant to do something crazy in this world," Samantha Drinnon said.

Drinnon's son Ryland is now 5 months old and healthy. But when Drinnon was six months pregnant with Ryland, the odds were not in his favor.

"In April, we found out that Ryland had a cardiac teratoma, which is a tumor growing on his heart," Drinnon said.

Ryland's condition was one that doctors don't see often.

"(Cardiac teratomas are) incredibly rare," said Dr. Darrell Cass, the director of fetal surgery and the Fetal Care Center at the Cleveland Clinic. "Overall, they're only like one in 40,000 births, and then to have it in this heart location is way less common."

What's even rarer is a successful removal of that tumor — the procedure has only been done a few times worldwide and had succeeded just once before Ryland's surgery.

"The odds were absolutely against us and we were confident that we assembled the right team," Cass said.

After discussing and weighing options, doctors and Drinnon agreed that surgery was the way to go. On May 7, the four-hour fetal surgery was performed.

"The doctor did what he might do on a baby after birth. He did a cut toward the middle of the chest to open up the rib cage to expose this little baby's heart to help peel the tumor off of the heart," Cass said.

The surgery was a success for the second time in history.

"Some of the nurses that were in my room, they told me that they cried and they are still crying tears over it, just because it was the craziest thing they've ever experienced too," Drinnon said.

After the removal, Ryland was put back in his mother's womb. He grew there for another 10 weeks before an early arrival.

"At 36 weeks and three days he made his entrance into the world," Drinnon said.

Drinnon says she can't wait to tell her son about the impact he's made on the world.

"One day he's going to ask, 'What is this crazy spot on my chest?' And I'm going to tell him that, 'You went through something crazy that no baby can really say they went through,'" Drinnon said.

Ryland is healthy, but Drinnon said he'll still have regular checkups for blood work and ensure his heart is working correctly.

This story was originally published by Nadeen Abusada on Scripps station WEWS in Cleveland.

According to a recent

report,




cesarean sections, or 'C-section', rates are the highest in nearly two decades.

The Cleveland Clinic said the trend is so high that 1 in 3 babies in the U.S. are now born via C-section.

"It's a significant health burden, it's a significant medical burden and economical burden," Dr. Selena Zanotti said. "1 in 3 is definitely a high rate and there are things we can do to lower that rate."

Dr. Libby Buckley, dentist in Berea, is a mom of two. She gave birth to both of her children via C-section.

"Both of my kids wanted to stay inside me forever. They didn't want to come out."

Dr. Buckley said her doctor decided to induce her during her first pregnancy because her son was a week overdue. However, she wasn't dilating. Then came the emergency procedure.

The surgery itself went well, however it was her recovery that was a bit rocky.

"I was shaking a lot. Then they gave me my son and I was scared. I didn’t want to hold him I was afraid I was going to drop him. I was kind of freaking out a little bit," Dr. Buckley said. "I think it was the pitocin. Coming off of that was a bit rough."

So when Dr. Buckley was pregnant with her daughter about two years later, she wanted to try to give birth naturally.

“I didn’t want to pick out the date of my child’s birth," she said.

But naturally, her daughter was also a week overdue, so again she gave birth via cesarean.

Dr. Buckley's story is just like so many others across the country.

Dr. Zanotti said there are several contributing factors to the increase rate, including obesity, the number of older first time mothers plus a change in the medical legal system.

"There are a lot of physicians who practice safer medicine. There's a lot of fear of being sued in this country and because of that cesareans may be getting done earlier than before," Dr. Zanotti said.

However, the rising rates is catching the attention of national agencies, like the American College of of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’, ACOG.

The ACOG recently updated their opinion called

'Cesarean Delivery on Maternal Request.'




In the opinion, it states "in the absence of maternal or fetal indications for cesarean delivery, a plan for vaginal delivery is safe and appropriate and should be recommended."

Dr. Zanotti said the Cleveland Clinic is also working towards reversing the trend. She said last year the Clinic had a 22% rate for cesareans for first-time moms.

“Which is fantastic. That’s taken a lot of work on our part as well," she said.

Dr. Buckley's advice - give birth naturally if you can.

"To me, it’s not worth it. A surgery is a surgery, I’d rather do it the way we’re supposed to unless the doctor comes in and says this is the only way to go," she said.

But it is important to remember, C-sections may be the only option for some mothers for a chance at a healthy baby.

“C-sections are needed, c-sections are definitely indicated in a lot of medical conditions but we just need to be cautious on how many we’re doing,” Dr. Zanotti said.