North Shore anesthesiologist honored for lifesaving effort in delivery room

In the 26 days Melody Hakimi stayed at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset last May, starting with the birth of her fourth child, anesthesiologist Michael Funaro stands out from the roughly 60 medical professionals she credits with saving her life.

"He assured me everything would be OK before I was put under," said Hakimi, of Great Neck, in an interview Monday. "He checked on me every single day."

Sh e recalled: "Before I got discharged from the hospital, he was the last person I saw. He truly cared, it wasn’t just him doing his job. He really made sure that I was OK."

 Funaro was honored Monday during Northwell Health’s third annual anesthesiology lifesaver award ceremony at its headquarters in New Hyde Park. The award recognized his role in caring for Hakimi during the 11 hours she was under anesthesia after complications while giving birth to her healthy daughter, Summer Hakimi. He described it as "the hardest case I’ve ever done."

Funaro, accepting the plaque recognizing his lifesaving efforts before a crowd of fellow award nominees and their loved ones, said: "It was very much a team effort that day."

Hakimi, who previously gave birth to three healthy children via cesarean, was at risk during her fourth pregnancy because she was diagnosed with placenta percreta. The condition, often diagnosed in mothers who undergo multiple C-sections, is where the placenta grows into the uterine lining and can result in life-threatening hemorrhaging during delivery.

"We were concerned that it might be somewhat complicated," Funaro said of the anesthesia plan before the birth, during an interview with Newsday.

After the birth, Funaro and his team performed CPR on Hakimi after her heart stopped, administered blood transfusions after her own blood poured onto the operating room floor and placed her on machines to help her breathe after her lungs filled with fluid.

"I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Dr. Funaro and all the incredible doctors in the room that day," Hakimi said.

Maternal mortality, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been a growing problem globally, although some gains have been made recently in the United States.

In 2022, 817 women died of maternal causes in the United States, down from 1,205 the previous year, which capped an increase in mortality since at least 2018, according to the CDC. In 2022, the most recent year available for statistics, maternal mortality rate fell to 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births from a rate of 32.9 per 100,000 the year prior.

On its website, the CDC defines maternal mortality as a "pregnancy-related death … during pregnancy or within one year of the end of pregnancy from a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of pregnancy."

Dr. Joseph Marino, the senior vice president of the anesthesiology service line at Northwell, said the annual effort highlights the work of anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists, who he said "usually fly under the radar."

"They’re the person that puts you to sleep and wakes you up, but you often don’t know who they are," Marino said. "Tonight’s the chance for us to make them a star."