Voices for Life Is a blog dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues.
Our focus is to protect the sanctity of all human life from conception until natural death. This includes protecting babies from abortion, fetal tissue experimentation, and embryonic research; and the general population from euthanasia, cloning, population control and human genetic engineering.
For the first time in the UK, surgeons have repaired the abnormally developed spines of two babies with open spina bifida, in separate operations this summer. Both sets of mums and babies are doing well, according to a statement by University College London Hospital (UCLH).
The operations brought together researchers from UCL working with NHS clinicians from UCLH and Great Ormand Street Hospital in partnership with University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium to carry out the operations in the UK for the first time.
Up until now, operations to repair the gap in the spine that develops as a result of spina bifida has been carried out after birth in the UK. However, the earlier it is repaired the better for long-term health and mobility. “It’s fantastic,” said UCL Professor Anne David, who has worked on bringing the surgery to the UK for three years. “Women now don’t have to travel out of the UK. They can have their family with them. There are less expenses. So all good things.”
How is the surgery done?
“Operating in the womb involves opening the uterus, exposing the spina bifida without delivering the baby, closing the defect and then repairing the uterus to leave the baby safely inside”, said lead fetal surgeon Jan Deprest of UCLH and Leuven. “Closure of spina bifida in the womb using this method is an alternative to postnatal surgery, and has been shown to improve short and medium-term outcomes.”
Researchers are also exploring less invasive keyhole surgery methods.
The 2017 Abortion statistics for England and Wales list spina bifida as the principal medical condition for 148 babies who were aborted that year because of disability.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children is a leading pro-life organization in the United Kingdom. Website: SPUC
Denise Grady is a first-rate Health and medicine reporter at The New York Times. I love reading her stories for her ability to break incredibly complicated medical stories down into layman’s language and to inject a dose of her own humanity.
Which brings us to a pair of terrific complementary stories written by Grady that recently ran in the Times. Both were about still experimental surgery performed on Lexi Royer and her unborn son who’d been prenatally diagnosed with a severe form of spina bifida. As Grady explained
Spina bifida occurs early, at three to four weeks of pregnancy, when the tissue forming the spinal column should fold into a tube but does not close properly. There are 1,500 to 2,000 cases a year in the United States.
In the case of Mrs. Royer’s 24-week unborn baby, “The defect was big and severe, and the brain stem was being pulled down into the spinal column.” We’re told that “termination” was offered. Lexi and her husband Joshuwa said no.
The surgery took place in September at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Prenatal surgery for spina bifida, as readers of NRL News Today know, is nothing new.
But it wasn’t until a famous study was published in 2011 that those who wondered if the risk/benefits of prenatal surgery outweighed the risks/benefits of operating after birth learned that prenatal surgery was significantly better.
“The percentage of children who could walk independently rose to 40 percent from 20 percent,” Grady explained, “and the need for a shunt was cut in half, to 40 percent from 82 percent.”
During the standard prenatal surgery for spina bifida, surgeons cut open the woman’s abdomen and uterus to reach the fetus. But the newer, experimental approach is different.
Dr. Belfort opened Mrs. Royer’s lower abdomen, but not her uterus. Instead, he eased the uterus out of her body and inserted the fetoscope, and then, through another slit, surgical tools. The doctors drained out the amniotic fluid and pumped in carbon dioxide to keep the uterus expanded, giving them room to work and allowing them to see better and cauterize when needed.
Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link. Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest. Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.
Pregnant, need help or know someone who does? National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131. In Southeast Penna: Call 215-826-8090
If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available. Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.
Shelly Wall received the news that no pregnant woman should hear: Her baby would not survive.
Doctors told Shelly that the baby inside her — a boy — not only had Spina bifida but also had developed a rare complication of the defect. Hydrocephalus caused his skull to fill with fluid, stopping his brain from growing.
Physicians told Shelly and husband Rob that the baby would not live and urged them to abort him. They refused. Experts told the Walls that even if their baby survived birth, he would die soon after. They still would not consider aborting him. Surgeons told Shelly that even if he lived, he would be severely physically and mentally handicapped. The couple, who already had a teenage daughter, was advised by professionals five times to abort their child. Each time they refused.
Noah's brain scans at birth (left) and age 3.But the Walls did follow their doctor's advice and plan for the worst while praying for the best. Shelly and Rob planned their little boy's funeral before he was even born. "I'd never seen a baby's coffin before," Shelly said.
The Hydrocephalus prognosis was, tragically, correct. When tiny Noah was born, he had less than two percent of a brain.
Little Noah was rushed into emergency surgery immediately after birth to close the opening at the bottom of his spine and to drain fluid from his empty brain cavity. The surgery was successful beyond anyone's hopes. As time went on, Noah's brain began to grow into its cavity.
Today, Noah is a "chatty" little four-year-old, always smiling and very happy. He can count to 10 and hold a pen, is learning to read and write, and interacts socially with others at his local primary school.
He asks his mother, "You alright?" in reaction to Shelly's tears as she latches his leg braces. Last year, British television showed Noah's amazing survival in a documentary entitled "The Boy with No Brain."
Life Site News story continues Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link. Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest. Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.
Pregnant, need help or know someone who does? National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131. In Southeast Penna: Call or text 610-626-4006
If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available. Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.
