05-05-2021
A remarkable type of surgery is exposing the truth that unborn babies are still babies, even when they re three or four months away from being born.
Expectant parents in the United Kingdom have been an eyewitness to the miracle of life as their unborn babies have been spared from paralysis or worse by having surgery for spina bifida, long before they re born.
Live Science reports that this breakthrough procedure has been performed on 32 babies with spina bifida since January 2020.
Spina bifida is a birth defect that occurs when a baby s backbone does not form normally.
NHS England revealed that performing the operation on babies between 23 and 26 weeks of pregnancy, rather than after birth, has a greater effect on healing the child.
Spina bifida: Surgery in the womb saves 32 babies from paralysis
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NHS England said the intricate surgery, which involves a team of up to 30 medics, has been carried out on 32 babies in the womb since January 2020.
Spina bifida prevents the spine and spinal cord developing properly and can lead to paralysis, as well as bowel, bladder and kidney problems.
Teacher Helena Purcell, whose unborn baby was diagnosed with spina bifida, was operated on by the NHS when she was 23 weeks pregnant. She was originally told that her baby would likely be paralysed and incontinent, and would need a shunt in the brain.
In October 2018, a revolutionary surgery was performed on babies whilst they were still in the womb, correcting their spine after a rare condition caused spinal deformities. The surgeries were a success, preventing likely paralysis once they were born, alongside preventing a host of other severe complications.
Now, the surgery has been rolled out across the UK, and the NHS reports that it has been performed on 32 babies since Jan 2020. The incredible surgery takes up to 30 specialist medical professionals in the operating theatre, and involves operating on the developing fetus from just 5 months into the pregnancy.
Spina bifida is a form of neural tube defect that can affect any point along the spine, in which the backbone doesn’t close properly. This may lead to damage to the nerves around it, including the spinal cord, as well as leaving these nerves exposed and vulnerable. It can range in severity and cause a host of mental and physical disabilities, w
Sunday May 2, 2021, 4:54 PM
Mila, who was diagnosed with spina bifida, was spared paralysis after her mother was operated on when she was 23 weeks pregnant. Credit: NHS England
When Helena Purcell s unborn daughter Mila was diagnosed with spina bifida at her 20-week scan, doctors said her baby would likely be paralysed if surgeons did not operate on her before the baby was born.Ms Purcell, who had become pregnant after six failed attempts at IVF, had surgery when she was 23 weeks pregnant.
She gave birth to Mila at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) in March 2021, three months after the surgery.