A COUPLE were over the moon when they fell pregnant after three painful miscarriages.
But Sarah Copeland and her partner Christian Rayner’s world fell apart at their 20-week scan.
SWNSSarah Copeland in hospital after doctors performed an operation on her baby while still in the womb[/caption]
Sarah, her partner Christian and 11-year-old daughter MyleeSWNS
They were told their “miracle” baby had spina bifida – a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord don’t form properly.
It can make tots prone to life-threatening infections, and also cause paralysis and bladder and bowel dysfunction.
Doctors advised Sarah and Christian’s little girl would be born paralysed from the waist down if they didn’t act fast.
Sarah, 36, was whisked away for emergency surgery, which saw medics fix a hole in the baby’s spine while she was still in the womb.
To the delight of the family and hospital team, a post-op scan showed the baby wriggling her little legs.
Sarah and Christian, 43, are due to welcome their daughter on July 22.
The mum, from Billericay, Essex, said: “She’s my little miracle, and I’m so relieved the op went well.
“We felt truly blessed to see her moving her legs. It was very overwhelming.
“They scanned her straight away and she’s dancing around happy as Larry.
“She’s using them fully, and you can see the scar on her has healed already.”
Teacher Sarah and Christian, a window installer, lost a pregnancy at 10 weeks last July.
Sarah, mum to daughter Mylee, 11, had two miscarriages before that, and found out she was pregnant in November.
She discovered her baby had spina bifida at her 20-week scan at Basildon Hospital.
Sarah was referred to a specialist team at a hospital in Southend, and then King’s College Hospital in London for surgery on April 26.
Nerves had come through a hole at the bottom of her baby’s spine, and were being damaged by exposure to spinal fluid, Sarah said.
If untreated, her baby would not have been able to move from the waist down by the time she was born and there was a danger of damage to the brain, she added.
Sarah was 27 weeks at the time of the op, which gave her baby a 90 per cent chance of gaining movement in her lower body, she said.
Doctors made a cut like during a C-section, then used keyhole surgery to go into the protective amniotic sack.
They put the nerves back into the baby’s spine and closed the hole with a skin patch.
While she has retained movement in her limbs, scans showed some nerve damage so her bladder and bowel may still be affected.
Sarah said: “I’m just so glad that she can move.
“There will be so much more she’ll be able to do now than if I hadn’t had the op.
“She’s moving her legs fully, but we’re not sure yet if she’ll have the muscle tone to stand or walk, and if she does it will take her longer.
“We’re getting the garden flattened so we can get a hot tub and she can have private therapy there.”
SWNSScans showed the couple’s baby wriggling her legs, suggesting the op was a success[/caption]
SWNSSarah, from Essex, at an ultrasound appointment with Christian[/caption]
SWNSSarah’s scar after the operation to correct spina bifida[/caption]
What is spina bifida?
SPINA bifida is a type of neural tube defect.
It happens when a baby’s spine and spinal cord don’t develop properly in the womb, causing a gap in the spine.
Doctors believe it is either caused by genetic or nutritional factors (such as lack of folic acid) or where the neural tube which forms the baby’s brain and spinal cord is underdeveloped.
There are three types of spina bifida but myelomeningocele remains the rarest and most serious form of the condition.
One in every 1,000 pregnancies results in a spine or brain defect, such as spina bifida, and it is usually spotted around the 18-week scan.
The build-up of fluid in the brain can cause brain damage and result in learning disabilities, impaired speech and epilepsy.
Spina bifida can be treated with surgery.