“Once in the womb, once at birth”… What’s the story behind a child born twice?

The story of a woman who had to have her baby removed twice was introduced. Once while still in the womb, and once through actual birth. What could have happened?

Patricia Backshall of Western Australia, Australia, had a 14-month-old son named Otis who had spina bifida, a condition that required surgery to be born before he could fully emerge from his mother’s womb.

According to a report in the British daily The Daily Mail, Patricia learned of her baby’s condition at her 16-week checkup. Spina bifida is a condition in which the spinal cord does not develop properly in the womb, creating a hole in the spine.

From then on, Patricia began to learn about her child’s illness. “I saw cases of children who had surgery after birth and those who had surgery before birth, and the difference was so great that it could not be ignored,” she said, and visited dozens of hospitals to find one that could perform the surgery before the child was born. At the time, Patricia was 23 weeks pregnant.

In January of last year, Patricia finally found a hospital where she had surgery to remove the uterus from her body and close the hole in the baby’s spine. The surgery was successful, and Otis was born three months later. At five months old, a shunt inserted to help drain the cerebrospinal fluid that was building up due to hydrocephalus developed a dangerous blood clot, but he recovered well and is now 14 months old and crawling around the house without rest.

“We were told it might take another year for him to walk and that he might need help getting around, but Otis proved the statistics wrong,” said Patricia’s husband, Jesse. “He developed all his skills on time.”

Spina bifida, a congenital malformation in which the spine is not completely closed

Spina bifida is a type of neural tube defect in which the spinal cord and spine of a baby do not develop properly in the womb, leaving a space in the spine. The neural tube begins to form in the early stages of pregnancy and closes about four weeks after conception. In babies with spina bifida, some of the neural tube does not develop properly or closes, resulting in defects in the spinal cord and vertebrae. The neural tube later develops into the brain and spinal cord.

Spina bifida occulta includes myelomeningocele, meningocele, and spina bifida occulta. Myelomeningocele is a condition in which the membrane that surrounds the spinal cord and the nerves inside it protrude outside the spinal canal. Meningocele is a condition in which the meninges protrude but the spinal nerves do not. Spina bifida occulta is a condition in which part of the spine is split in the middle without the spinal cord or meninges protruding. It usually does not cause any particular health problems, so it is often discovered accidentally during an X-ray.

In the most severe cases of myelomeningocele, problems such as leg weakness or paralysis, fecal or urinary incontinence, and loss of sensation in the skin around the legs and buttocks can occur. Many children also have hydrocephalus, a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain, which increases the risk of brain damage.

Spina bifida occulta often does not require treatment. However, in babies with spina bifida, the nerves and membranes push out of the opening in the spine, forming a pocket, which can cause nerve damage and serious infections, so surgery is usually required within 48 hours of birth.

The surgery is performed to put the spinal cord and exposed tissue or nerves back in their correct positions, and to restore surrounding muscles and skin. This surgery can repair defects, but cannot reverse damage to nerves. If the child has hydrocephalus, surgery is also performed to create a bypass by implanting a small tube called a shunt to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid to other parts of the body.

There are also ways to perform surgery before birth. In the case of fetal surgery, it must be done before the 26th week of pregnancy. The mother’s abdomen is opened, the uterus is incised, the fetal spinal cord is repaired, the uterus is put back in, and the abdomen is closed. Research has shown that children who undergo fetal surgery have fewer disabilities, are less likely to need walking devices such as crutches, and have a lower risk of hydrocephalus.

The cause of spina bifida is not clearly known, but genetic factors, nutritional factors such as folic acid deficiency during pregnancy, and certain medications such as the anticonvulsant valproic acid are known to increase the risk.