Baby Is Born With Her Heart On The Outside Of Her Body And Survives

The baby had a condition called ectopia cordis. It occurs in around eight in every million births and causes the heart to grow along a spectrum of anatomical locations. Naomi was advised to abort the baby due to this condition. She says that she simply burst into tears as this condition comes with a slew of problems that she and her baby would have to face.

"All the way through it, it was 'the chances of survival are next to none, the only option is to terminate, we can offer counseling', and things like that," she says. "In the end, I just said that termination is not an option for me. If death was to happen naturally, then so be it." Naomi was not alone in this. Her partner, Dean Wilkins, was by her side for everything. The baby was due Christmas eve but was born three days earlier via c-section.

Even though she was given such a poor prognosis earlier in her pregnancy, there was hope slowly developing due to the results of later scans. Despite the position of her heart, the baby was developing normally. The couple even paid for a special blood test that would check for other abnormalities, and all of those tests came back clear. But, once they saw the reality of their baby's condition after she was born, they knew they had a fight on their hands.

One consulting pediatric cardiologist was involved in helping Dean and Naomi begin the fight to give their baby the best chance of survival. "We came together as a team of fetal medicine doctors, obstetricians, anesthetists, cardiac and abdominal surgeons and cardiologists to review all of the available information and discuss how best to plan for a delivery, surgery and subsequent care." Together, they decided to deliver the baby by c-section. She would also be at risk of trauma or squishing her heart during delivery. Surgery was her best bet as they would be able to provide some coverage for her heart that would be necessary after her birth. The baby was put in a protective sterile bag after she was born.

"The bag keeps the organs sterile but also keeps the tissues moist. We inserted a breathing tube into her mouth and gave medications to sedate her and stop her moving." The baby girl was born in good condition. She cried like any other baby and her heart beats effectively.

Within an hour of her birth, a team of doctors, nurses, and midwives took her to surgery in order to place her heart back inside her body. They had to widen the hole in her chest and use a plastic ring to hold it open. Then, a plastic cover was stitched over her chest with hopes that her heart would sink back into her chest over the next couple of days.

After nine long days, her little heart eventually sank into her chest. The next step was for surgeons to replace the mesh on her chest with a permanent membrane, and they had to create another special mesh to bring her loose ribs together to form a cage in her chest.

There is no denying the fact that this precious little girl has a long road ahead of her, but the odds are finally in her favor. She already bean eight-in-a-million odds that she would even be carried to full term.

The operation that she went under to correct her condition is hardly ever performed. Most women who are carrying babies with this condition choose to abort. This little bundle was the very first baby born in the UK with this condition and survive. Twice it has happened in the US. Since medical advances are being made every day, more and more babies are beating the odds.