Miracle Baby Born During Rare 'Abdominal Pregnancy'
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- A Staten Island woman recently gave birth to a miracle baby. The newborn developed in her abdomen instead of her womb.
The baby and her mother made medical history three months ago when they showed up at Richmond University Medical Center in Staten Island for what was supposed to be a routine c-section.
But, Dr Michael Moretti told CBS 2's Dr Max Gomez that when Sylvia Ortiz arrived for the procedure she had a surprise in store for him.
"It was an abdominal pregnancy, or a rupture in the uterus with a large opening in its cavity," he explained.
This happens when the embryo escapes the fallopian tubes and lodges itself in the mother's abdomen. The embryo grows on the abdomen wall, outside of the uterus, and can cause major trouble for the mother.
"The risks would be catastrophic bleeding, massive bleeding from the big blood vessels, and the placenta area in the abdomen. It could cause shock, organ damage, and death from hemorrhage," he said.
A team of doctors and nurses were assembled, and during the procedure Sylvia lost nearly all of her blood volume. It took forty units of blood, and two operations, over a course of twenty-four hours to control the bleeding. Sylvia didn't wake up for three days.
1010 WINS Reporter Steve Sandberg reports...
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Ortiz is thankful for everything that the hospital staff did.
"I am just amazed and I am shocked, and I am just happy to be alive," she said.
It was not just Sylvia who was at risk, bad blood flow through abnormal placement could have caused growth problems, brain damage, or a still birth in baby Paris; so far she seems to have defied incalculable odds.
"To have a pregnancy implant in the abdomen and actually grow into the third trimester is extremely rare. To have is grow into the third trimester in the abdomen and survive like this, you couldn't quantitate," said Dr Moretti.
Experts told CBS 2 that abdominal pregnancies can be hard to detect. Tubal ectopic pregnancies are far more common; this happens when the fetus implants in the fallopian tubes and does not survive. This type of pregnancy can also put the mother's life at risk.
Have you ever heard of this type of pregnancy? Let us know in our comments section below...
