Health News

Baby Born Twice In Texas

Photo from Pixabay

Margaret Boemer’s baby has the unique honor of having been born twice. Boemer, who was 16 weeks pregnant, decided to have an ultrasound to check on her infant. The results were surprising: the child had a sacrococcygeal teratoma.

A sacrococcygeal teratoma is a tumor that grows in a baby’s coccyx—typically called a tailbone – before it is born. The tumor is extremely rare, occurring in only one of every 35,000 births, usually among girls, Tech Times reports.

The Texan mother-to-be told the Texas Children’s Hospital,

They saw something on the scan, and the doctor came in and told us that there was something seriously wrong with our baby and that she had a sacrococcygeal teratoma.

Some tumors can be endured until the baby is born, and removed after birth. But Boemer’s case was unusual – the tumor was causing problems with blood flow, and was trying to grow simultaneously with the baby. The coverall conditions would have been a major impediment to natural child development.

Dr. Darrell Cass, co-director of Texas Children’s Fetal Center and associate professor of surgery, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College Medicine, said that, “And in some instances, the tumor wins and the heart just can’t keep up and the heart goes into failure and the baby dies.”

By her 24th week of pregnancy, doctors deemed Boemer should be operated on to remove the tumor immediately, in order for the baby to live and continue living in the womb. Boemer’s doctors agreed that the actual removal of the tumor was not the most difficult task, but opening the uterus without sacrificing the mother’s health.

The scientists had to make a large incision to reach the large tumor, and during surgery, the baby had to be taken out of the womb temporarily. “Essentially, the fetus is outside, like completely out, all the amniotic fluid falls out; it’s actually fairly dramatic, Cass said.”

The operation was a success, and the woman was able to rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. She gave birth a second time, and Boemer says all is going well with the baby, who is now for months old.

 

Click to comment
To Top

Hi - Get Important Content Like This Delivered Directly To You

Get important content and more delivered to you once or twice a week.

We don't want an impostor using your email address so please look for an email from us and click the link to confirm your email address.