by ‘Jola Sotubo

A medical  breakthrough has been recorded by doctors who operated a baby inside her mother’s womb and saved her life.

Hope Rollings, now ten months old, was discovered to have an abnormality when her mother’s pregnancy was 20 weeks old.

Doctors decided that baby Hope would die if her condition was not attended to and so they carried out the emergency procedure which only had a 10% chance of success.

Daily Mail reports:

Hope had no diaphragm which meant her major organs were pushing up into her chest and squashing her lungs, preventing them from developing properly.

Hope’s parents were told that without pioneering surgery while still in the womb she would struggle to breathe when she was born and would probably not survive. As a result, she had to have a risky operation before her birth. Image shows a scan of her five weeks after the operation

Diagnosed with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, her parents, Sarah and Luke, were offered a termination.

But the couple were then told about a pioneering operation which was still in its experimental stage.

Doctors explained they could operate on the unborn baby –  at this point just 10 inches long – while she was still in the womb.

The procedure involved inserting a tiny balloon into her windpipe to stop the amniotic fluid that babies inhale and exhale from leaving her lungs.

Trapping the fluid in her lungs forced them to remain expanded allowing them to develop.

But the operation was so delicate there was a high risk of miscarriage.

Mrs Rollings, 26, of Monmouth, South Wales, said: ‘I went for my scan thinking everything was going to be fine and then the doctors started whispering.

Hope’s first operation saw doctors insert a balloon into her windpipe to stimulate lung growth

 

Hope (pictured with her parents, Sarah and Luke Rollings) was only given a 10 to 20 per cent chance of surviving the operation that she had while still in the womb but her parents wanted to give her a chance

‘They told me and Luke that our baby was unlikely to survive. We were offered a termination. It was absolutely horrendous.

‘But I was determined to give the baby every chance to live and they told us about this new operation.

‘The decision to have the surgery was one of the most difficult decisions we have ever had to make.

Mrs Rollings was told the balloon would have to be removed before her baby was born but she went into labour at 35 weeks, catching everyone by surprise.

The baby was born last March weighing 5lb 15oz and the couple named her Hope because they never gave up hope that she would survive.

Mrs Rollings said: ‘She had to be paralysed with an injection when she was born so she didn’t breathe on her own at first.

 

The operation Hope had in the womb allowed her lungs to develop because it enabled them to expand. When she was born, she had to have another operation, this time to move her organs back to her abdomen and to insert an artificial diaphragm

When Hope was diagnosed her parents were offered a termination as her prognosis was so poor.

Hope (pictured with her father in hospital) was given her name because her parents never gave up hope she would survive)

‘Then she was taken into intensive care and underwent a three-hour operation to move her organs around.

‘Doctors then used a synthetic patch inserted into her chest as she did not have a diaphragm muscle.’

This patch fills the role of a diaphragm and allows her lungs to expand without being hindered by her other organs.

Full-time mother Mrs Rollings and support worker Mr Rollings are now looking forward to Hope’s first birthday just a month from now – and she is a normal healthy baby about to take her first steps.

Hope (pictured in hospital after her second operation) is now learning to walk and will soon be celebrating her first birthday.

Mr and Mrs Rollings (pictured on Hope’s first day at home) say they will forever be grateful to all of the doctors and nurses who saved their daughter

 

Mrs Rollings said: ‘She is an absolute joy and has made us so happy. When we see her smile it’s hard to take in the journey she has been through before she got here.

‘She is a miracle in every sense of the word when I think she was only given a 10 per cent chance of survival.’

Hope will need another operation when she is older but for now her parents are just enjoying their precious new addition.

Mrs Rollings said: ‘We are so proud of her – she is a very precious little girl.

‘It’s amazing to think a tiny balloon saved her life while she was still in my womb. We will be forever grateful to the doctors.

‘We are very lucky to have our gorgeous daughter – we savour every moment.’