Baby had 5 blood transfusions before birth
This baby had no chance of being born alive. Edward Banham, or simply Teddy, became ill with severe anemia in the womb, after his blood cells were attacked by his mother’s immune system.
As it turned out, the mother and the unborn child have different Rh factors. Mrs. Banham’s is negative, and Teddy’s is positive. As a result, the mother’s body rejects the foreign body: antibodies are formed in the blood of a pregnant woman that destroy the red blood cells (blood cells) of her child.
For Mrs. Bunham, this was the second pregnancy. As a rule, during the first pregnancy, the Rh conflict is a rare occurrence. In the body of a woman there are no antibodies to foreign red blood cells yet.
However, in subsequent pregnancies, different Rh factors are very dangerous for the fetus. That’s what happened to Teddy.
Due to anemia at the 20th week, the child developed edema (hydrops fetalis), in which the heart weakens, and a large amount of fluid accumulates in the organs, squeezing them. About half of children with dropsy do not survive.
Baby Teddy desperately needed blood. To survive in the «enemy environment», he needed blood with a negative Rh factor, like his mother. And then the doctor dared to transfuse blood through the umbilical cord.
Blood transfusion to the fetus at the 20th week of pregnancy — this procedure is considered very rare and difficult, because the umbilical cord of the baby at this time is very small, which increases the risk of complications. For transfusion, the doctor used a 15 cm long needle.
“You had to lie as still as possible,” recalls Mrs. Banham. — If you breathe normally, taking deep breaths, the doctor could miss. The last time I almost fainted.”
In total, between the 20th and 32nd weeks, Teddy received five transfusions in the womb. Usually, most children require two transfusions at most, starting at 28–29 weeks.
However, if the tests show a large amount of bilirubin (one of the main components of bile, which is formed during the destruction of red blood cells), the transfusion must be repeated.
Luckily, baby Teddy survived all five procedures. He was born at 35 weeks by caesarean section. He was born with a collapsed lung (a pathological condition in which air enters the pleural cavity between the lung and the sternum), but quickly recovered.
