With 19 weeks of pregnancy, Joni Reinkemeyer and her husband were waiting for their baby's sex to be revealed, but on top of that they received bad news. Ultrasound detected spina bifida, a congenital malformation that occurs in the first month of embryonic life, in which the neural tube does not close completely exposing and unprotected the contents of the spine (meninges, spinal cord, nerve roots, etc.).
Being a progressive defect during pregnancy, to avoid paralysis doctors decided to perform a cesarean to perform a fetal surgery with 25 weeks gestation. That's how they corrected Jackson's malformation (that's what they called it), put it back inside the uterus and then the pregnancy continued until 35 weeks when the baby "was born again".
Photo: Joni Reinkemeyer In addition to being able to prevent Jackson's injury from getting worse, surgery would give him a better chance to learn to walk. They were also able to reverse their Chairi malformation, a condition that occurs when brain tissue spreads to the spinal cord and repairing it before birth would reduce its need for shunt by 50 percent.
The delicate fetal surgery was performed by a team of 32 people at the Barnes Jewish children's hospital in St. Louis (Missouri, United States). After the operation, the mother had to remain in strict rest since the intervention increases the risk of prematurity in the baby, so every day that passed into the uterus was important.
Photo: Joni Reinkemeyer Spina bifida in the baby
One in every thousand children is born in Spain with spina bifida, a congenital defect of the neural tube, the part of the embryo from which the brain and spinal cord are formed (which begins to form during the first month of pregnancy ). If there is any type of anomaly during the formation process (for example, if it is not completely closed), defects in the brain, spine and spinal cord can occur.
There are two anomalies that occur more frequently whenever there is some type of defect in the neural tube: spina bifida and anencephaly (or open spine). Spina bifida most frequently affects the last vertebrae of the spine, exposing the nerves that control the mobility of the legs and contractility of the bladder and rectum, leading to paralysis and incontinence.
Generally, the operation to correct spina bifida is done a few days after the baby is born, but studies have shown that Prenatal surgery reduces the risk of developing motor and intellectual disabilitiesThat is why more and more interventions are performed before birth. Practiced in a dozen hospitals around the world, this delicate operation seems to give encouraging results, despite the risks involved, including the risk of prematurity of the baby that can be born at any time in the days after the intervention.
Fetal surgery gave Jackson a new opportunity and his parents have taken advantage of it despite the difficult decision. Your baby who was born twice He stayed for twelve days in intensive care and was finally able to take him home on New Year's Day.
Remember that taking folic acid before and during pregnancy prevents spina bifida by 70%, and is also effective in preventing anencephaly, cleft lip and is effective in preventing delays in the baby's language.
