A Bronx mom is grateful to be alive after giving birth to her daughter four years ago. It was thanks to a program launched in 2015 at the Montefiore Medical Center.

The program focuses on heart disease in high-risk pregnant woman. News 12 spoke with the mom and a team of doctors who are focused on stopping this silent killer.

Leading up to giving birth, doctors discovered Bronx mom Diana Sanchez had pulmonary hypertension, which is when the pressure in the blood vessels leading from the heart to the lungs is too high.

Sanchez's doctors at Montefiore Medical Center said this condition was a near-miss.

"We decided to get an echo-cardiogram really just because she was there. The ultrasound of her heart was significantly abnormal. That led us down the path to really discovery of her serious cardiac disease," said Dr. Diana Wolfe.

Wolfe, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, is the head of the Montefiore's Maternal Fetal Cardiology Joint Program with Dr. Anna Bortnick, associate professor of cardiology.

They are hoping to reduce the women who have adverse effects to pregnancy, including death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women.

The doctors' goal is to treat it from all angles. Through the Maternal Fetal Medicine Cardiologist Program, Sanchez was able to treat her condition. She is also expecting a baby boy in July.

"Always speak to your doctors. That is my No. 1 advice to all moms with health issues," she says.