NEED TO KNOW
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A mother and fetal medicine consultant in England are revealing the medical decisions that helped save the life of a “miracle baby”
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First-time mother Eleanor Brannigan was 27 weeks pregnant when doctors found fluid had built up around the lungs and body of her unborn daughter, Eabha
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“Eabha will always be our special miracle baby, she is a little fighter and we are just so grateful that she is here with us,” she said, per Nottingham University Hospitals
Parents of a “miracle baby” in England are looking back on the surgery it took to deliver their daughter, with medical professionals saying she “might not be here with her family” today if they hadn’t intervened with the pioneering surgery.
First-time mother Eleanor Brannigan, who recently welcomed daughter Eabha with partner Adam Moseley, retold the story of her pregnancy to Nottingham University Hospitals, revealing how one consultant went “above and beyond” to make sure her child was delivered safely despite potential heart failure due to the buildup of fluid in her daughter’s body.
According to NUH, Brannigan was 27 weeks pregnant when she met with obstetric and fetal medicine consultant Magdalena Fiolna, after a private scan found a large amount of fluid in the unborn child’s body.
They soon discovered fluid had built up around her lungs and body, and she was at risk of potential heart failure, as Fiolna presented the soon-to-be parents with a few options.
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Stock image of a pregnant mother in a hospital bed
The first option, monitoring and waiting, would likely lead to “more fluid building up,” per NUH. The second, delivering the child at 27 weeks, would lead to “extreme prematurity.” And the third, draining the fluid, came with a few options of its own: Temporarily draining with a needle and needing to do it more times afterward, or inserting shunts, which would “permanently drain the fluid.” That option, however, could only be carried out in certain specialized centers.
Still, the family traveled with Fiolna to the Fetal Medicine Research Institute in London and they elected for the shunt procedure, according to NUH.
After a couple of weeks, the shunts stopped working and the family then elected to have their daughter delivered if necessary. Eleanor’s water then broke while Fiolna was away, but the consultant made sure “everyone knew what to do with the shunts if Eleanor needed an emergency birth.”
“I wanted to empower my colleagues so that they knew exactly what to do. I went to see Eleanor the next day to reassure her and to make a management plan. The day after, I was off but came in to scan her. Unfortunately, it became apparent that baby Eabha was poorly and that she needed to be delivered,” Fiolna said. “My fetal medicine consultant colleague, Mr. McEwan, was on call and we decided to take Eleanor to theatre to drain the fluid from both of Eabha’s lungs before delivering her by a caesarean section.”
The c-section allowed the child to “take her first breaths like any other baby to expand her lungs,” as the medical team opted to “delay the cord clamping, allow more time for her assessment by the neonatal doctors and nurses to plan more permanent drainage of fluid after birth.”
Eabha was born at 31 weeks old and spent time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at NUH. Per the NUH, she’s now back at home.
“Full term” for a baby is considered to be a pregnancy of 39 weeks, according to the National Child and Maternal Health Education Program, which notes that labor before 37 weeks of pregnancy is considered premature.
“We will be eternally grateful for all the help and support of Dr Fiolna and the teams that helped to save and look after Eabha,” Brannigan said. “Had we not met Dr. Fiolna that day when we came in to get checked out, then the outcome may have been so very different.”
“It is amazing what can be done in the womb before babies are even born. The team in London was fantastic and we were so lucky that Dr. Fiolna had the contacts there that she does.”
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Stock image of a newborn baby in a hospital
The mother called the medical teams “so supportive” and said she “couldn’t have asked for more” as she thanked those who went “above and beyond for our family.”
“Eabha will always be our special miracle baby, she is a little fighter and we are just so grateful that she is here with us,” she said.
As for the consultant, Fiolna reiterated that Eabha is “a miracle baby” who might not have survived had the medical professionals not intervened when they did, noting, “I am so very pleased that we were able to help and that Eabha is now at home and doing really well.”
Read the original article on People
