The doctors performed a combined cesarean section with a laryngectomy to unblock the child's airways before it left the uterine cavity of the mother, as after birth the baby would be dependent on manually breathing to survive.
The fetus was identified to have a lump in its neck that interfered with both its trachea and general airways, which would have resulted in immediate death upon birth if untreated.During the cesarean section, the team of over 30 specialists led by Prof. Ariel Manny, director of the maternity wards at Icholov, treated the baby by exposing its head from the uterine cavity, while the placenta continued to provide food and oxygen to the fetus - and only then performing the surgery to remove the lump from the neck area.Dr. Ari Dirou, director of the AAG Pediatric Unit and Dr. Alon Hacham, a senior physician at the hospital's pre-term infants department, identified the location of the lump using advanced imaging equipment - creating three-dimensional images and prints of the area - and inserted a tube into the baby's airways so that it could breathe properly when taken out of the womb, until it could do so by itself.Prof. Carolyn Weiniger completed the complex ventilation process; only then was the baby disconnected from the umbilical cord. The baby is now hospitalized in stable condition in the premature ward."I've been a midwife for over 25 years and every birth is a just as exciting as the first, but this is one of the special ones," Manny said. "Being a part of a procedure that brings life to the world when you hold the fetus' head, most of which is still in its mother's womb, treat it like a fetus and give birth to it at the end of the operation, is a sublime, special and exciting feeling that will stay with me and the staff for a long time."
Miracle birth in Tel Aviv: In uterine surgery saves unborn baby's life
The baby was born with a lump in its throat which blocked its airways, requiring an immediate intervention to survive.
