While expecting her third child, Margaret Bomer from Texas was 16 weeks pregnant. Pregnancy was difficult. In addition, she was carrying twins, one of whom died in the womb.
The other child survived, and the girl seemed to be developing normally. However, the usual ultrasound revealed pathology. The baby was found to have a massive tumor the size of her head. Doctors diagnosed sacrococcal teratoma – a tumor in newborns, which is quite rare.
A growing tumor is dangerous for a child, because it disrupts blood circulation and can lead to a malfunction of the heart rhythm. In this case, the girl had no chance of surviving. After 23 weeks, the tumor will close her heart, and heart failure will occur.
First birth
To save the baby, the doctors proposed to perform surgery on the fetus by temporarily removing it from the uterus. But the operation is complicated, it will take about 5 hours to carry it out, and the girl has a 50×50 chance of survival. Mom agreed to the operation, because otherwise the daughter was doomed. A team of surgeons from the Texas Children’s Fetal Center has started the operation.
It turned out that by this time the tumor had reached the size of the child’s body. Surgeons had to act quickly. On the fetus itself, the operation must be completed in 20 minutes. During the operation, the girl’s pulse dropped sharply, but the doctors managed to stabilize it and continue the operation. Everything went well. Doctors removed most of the tumor, and then put the baby back into the uterus. The pregnancy was restored.
Second birth
After 12 weeks, Margaret gave birth to a baby girl by Caesarean section. It was her second birth. The tumor on the girl’s spine began to grow again. When the girl turned 8 days old, surgeons performed an operation to remove the coccyx so that the tumor would not grow again. A few weeks later, Margaret was discharged from the hospital.
More than a year has passed. The girl is developing normally. She loves to run and walk, which is a miracle in itself. Besides, she’s very smart. And now the family celebrates the baby’s birthday twice!