Mother says doctors performed a surgery and used magnets to save the life of her newborn daughter. The chief of pediatric surgery at the hospital told the parents that their daughter was the smallest baby ever to be born with this condition to survive. It remains unclear what causes this condition. The health officials believe the condition could be caused by abnormalities in the genes, pointing out that many sufferers also have problems with their digestive system, heart and kidneys. According to the medical personnel, the twins were born at the earliest age from which babies have been known to survive outside the womb.
According to Kayla Hatch, her twin daughters, Harper Jacobo and her sister Gabriella weighed just 1lb when they were born at 23 weeks in Nebraska in February 2021. The mom also said that after their premature birth, the twins were rushed 250 miles to a specialist hospital for children in Colorado, where the medical personnel found the tube (esophagus) between Harper’s mouth and stomach had failed to connect.
According to the child’s parents, Kayla Hatch and Victor Jacobo, doctors reportedly performed a surgery and used magnets to successfully bring the two parts of the esophagus together.
The chief of pediatric surgery at the hospital, Dr. Rothenberg, told the parents that their daughter was the smallest baby ever to be born with this condition to survive.
Dr. Rothenberg reportedly said: “Twenty-three weeks is really the extreme limits of possible viability. The gap was so great, it was hard to get the two ends together. I believe Harper is the smallest baby ever to be born, with this pure Esophageal Atresia, to survive.”
According to the health officials, this condition is also know as esophageal atresia and it usually occurs when the upper and lower part of the esophagus fail to connect.
Health officials said that esophageal atresia occurs in about one in 4,100 babies born in the U.S., although most babies survive the condition.
It remains unclear what causes this condition. The health officials believe the condition could be caused by abnormalities in the genes, pointing out that many sufferers also have problems with their digestive system, heart and kidneys.
The twins were born at the earliest age from which babies have been known to survive outside the womb.
Doctors waited until Harper was full-term before performing a minimally-invasive surgery, followed by another surgery. It remains unclear how the little baby was fed during this time, the Daily Mail reports.
According to Dr. Rothenberg, after the initial surgery, they reportedly used a magnetic procedure to bring the esophagus together.
Magnets were used in January 2022, about a month before the twins’ first birthday. The magnets, which were eventually removed, brought the incomplete esophagus together.
The newborn baby then spent the first year of her life in hospital receiving treatment.
Luckily, her twin sister was not born with the birth defect and was discharged earlier into her family’s care.
Victor Jacobo reportedly said: “To see them breathing, kicking… it’s just truly awesome. We just can’t thank everyone enough for being there and helping us through these trying times. For the rest of my life, I’m going to be thanking them.”