An exceptional delivery took place in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 14, 2020. The newborn baby suffered from a tumor blocking his airways.
A miracle baby. A rare operation had to be performed on a newborn baby who had a tumor blocking his airways. So the doctors interrupted the delivery while the baby still had half of her body inside the womb. Only his head had been extirpated.
"The baby was still in the womb, other than his head, when we opened his airways", told Ariel Many, director of delivery rooms at Sourasky Medical Center, in The Times of Israel. “We had to open his airways before cutting the umbilical cord or he wouldn't have been able to breathe. "
A rare operation
According to The Times of Israel, this “ex utero intrapartum” caesarean, performed on Wednesday, had rarely been performed by doctors in the country. To optimize the chances of controlling the tumor revealed by the scans, the medical team used simulations, using a 3D printed model of the baby's neck. "We had to insert a special tube, with great precision, which would bypass the tumor and allow the baby to breathe", he explained.
Risks to the baby's survival
This risky procedure took place while the baby's umbilical cord had not yet been cut. “If we had given birth to him entirely and had cut the umbilical cord without the intervention, stopping his oxygen supply through the placenta, the baby would not have had oxygen for the 15 minutes it takes inserting a tube, which is a death sentence, or at least the cause of serious damage. "
A danger to the health of the baby exposed to the parents. "We had to tell the family that success was not guaranteed and that it could end with the death of the baby", Many said. In the end, the unusual delivery went off without a hitch. "It was very tense", Many said. “But once we saw that everything was going well, people were teary eyed […] I've been here for 25 years and it was one of the most emotional times. "
At the moment, baby breathes on his own and sometimes with the help of a respirator. The tumor is still present, according to doctors, it could go away on its own.