A BABY was born “inside out” with her fallopian tubes, ovaries, intestines and bowels on the outside of her tummy – but she survived after doctors wrapped her in clingfilm.
One-month-old Dorothy Montgomery was diagnosed with an extreme form of gastroschisis — a birth defect where a hole in the abdominal wall allows organs to poke out.
Dorothy Montgomery was born with her fallopian tubes, ovaries, intestines and bowels on the outside of her tummySWNS
SWNSShe was diagnosed with an extreme form of gastroschisis[/caption]
Her mum, Sadie, 21, from Amesbury, Wiltshire, burst into tears when a midwife discovered it during her 12-week scan in October 2023.
Sadie, a hairdresser, said: “All I remember hearing was the consultant telling me Dorothy’s ‘guts’ were out of her body.
“I couldn’t believe it was happening. I kept thinking ‘what do you mean — guts?’.
“Doctors had to wrap her up in clingfilm to keep her insides moist — I just couldn’t face seeing it.”
Sadie discovered she was seven weeks pregnant on August 18, 2023.
Two weeks later, she went for her first scan — during which everything looked normal.
But within another three weeks, things had changed drastically and doctors were concerned her unborn baby was seriously ill.
Sadie said: “My nine-week scan was absolutely fine but at 12 weeks, they found it.
“It was right at the last bit, the nurse noticed a ‘mass’ on the umbilical cord, or where it should’ve been.
“I was only 21, and I asked her what the hell she meant by that. She gently told me that sometimes babies‘ tummies don’t form properly. I just burst into tears.”
Sadie was taken into the family room and told it could be one of two conditions.
The first option was gastroschisis — which meant Dorothy would need her organs compressed, but she’d likely go on to live a normal life afterwards.
It affects around one in 7,000 pregnancies and can increase the risk of premature birth and low birth weights.
The second condition it could be was exomphalos, a birth defect in which the abdominal wall doesn’t form properly resulting in hernias and further operations as children get older.
RARE CONDITION
Sadie was told she may need an amniocentesis — an invasive procedure which involves a needle taking samples of fluid from the womb — to find out what was wrong with Dorothy.
It carries a slight risk of miscarriage for pregnant women who choose to have it.
Sadie said: “I needed to look at my options.
“I had to really think about whether to carry on with the pregnancy. I just really didn’t want to have such an invasive procedure, so I asked about other options.
“They said I could have a blood test — which I accepted. At 16 weeks, they confirmed that, luckily, it was gastroschisis.”
SWNSDorothy was born weighing exactly 4lbs in February this year[/caption]
SWNSDorothy is now ‘thriving’ and is expected to go on to lead a perfectly normal life[/caption]
Sadie didn’t need to take extra precautions during her pregnancy, except for a scan every two weeks until birth.
She spent time researching the condition and trying to find other mums going through the same thing.
Sadie said: “There was barely anything on social media, except loads of explainers about what it is.
“I couldn’t find any other mums going through the same thing as me.”
She’s doing really well, which is crazy given how far she’s come
Sadie
At 32 weeks, she returned to Salisbury Family Planning Clinic for another scan but midwives discovered Dorothy’s heart rate was very high.
She was sent for an emergency C-section after doctors couldn’t bring it down.
On February 12, 2024, Sadie was taken into theatre and Dorothy was born weighing exactly 4lbs.
“They wrapped her all up in clingfilm,” Sadie said.
“And I was really lucky because they put her in a towel, and I got to see her for a little while.
“But they transferred her to Southampton Hospital straight afterwards, to get her condition treated.”
Dorothy was accompanied by Sadie’s mum, Kelly, 44, and Dorothy’s dad Drew, 23.
Describing how Dorothy looked after birth, Sadie said: “It wasn’t just her bowel, or her umbilical cord, like I was expecting. It was everything.
“All her kidneys, stomach, liver, fallopian tubes, intestines and ovaries were out.
“Drew offered to take a picture, but I just refused. I didn’t want to see it.
“It was hard enough visiting her at Southampton and seeing all the tubes she was attached to.”
Doctors said they wanted to try compressing her organs back into her stomach, before exploring the option of surgery.
They used a silicone bag, or “silo bag”, to push them in and covered her umbilical cord with dressing and steri strips.
Within two weeks, Sadie was “shocked” to discover it had worked — and her tummy was completely closed.
She said: “It was absolutely crazy, her tummy literally just closed.
“She’s so lucky, she never needed to be put out or operated on. I hear lots of babies with the same condition do.”
Six weeks on, Dorothy is now able to feed like a normal baby — having only been allowed to ingest 1ml of milk in her first two weeks.
Sadie says she’s now “thriving” and is expected to go on to lead a perfectly normal life.
She added: “She’s doing really well, which is crazy given how far she’s come.
“After she was discharged, our doctors wanted to see her once a week but appointments and check-ups are slowly becoming fewer and further between, which is good.”
What is gastroschisis and what are the risks?
Gastroschisis is a condition where the baby develops a defect (hole) in the abdominal wall during development, while still inside the womb.
This is usually to the right side of the umbilical cord and some of the bowel escapes through this hole and continues to develop outside your baby’s abdomen.
This happens in approximately 1 in 7,000 births.
There is an increased chance that your baby will be born premature and low in weight.
There are two important issues after birth:
Returning the bowel back into the abdomen and repairing the defect. This is either by a primary or staged procedure (these terms will be explained later.)
Establishing your baby onto milk feeds. This can often take a long time (several weeks to months) as the bowel which was outside the abdomen may not work properly. By a drip your baby will be given nutrition.
Source: The NHS
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