Welcoming a child into the world is always a memorable experience, and for one new mum, her son’s arrival will no doubt be particularly memorable.
Fashion, beauty, and lifestyle vlogger Jaiden Ashlea learned at 19 weeks that her unborn son had spina bifida. At first, she and her fiancé were told that there was ‘no hope’ and that their baby would be brain dead.
However, after seeking advice from other doctors, the couple found an Orlando-based medical team that specialises in open foetal surgery, ie operating on babies before they’re even ready to be born.
These doctors were able to take out Jaiden’s baby to repair the neural-tube defect in his back, before putting him back inside her womb for another eleven weeks.
Jaiden, from Florida, is now recovering in hospital, and, thankfully, says the surgery was a success. She has since opened up to her 15.1K TikTok followers about her extraordinary experience.
In a video that has left people fascinated and firing a thousand questions, the 23-year-old shared footage of herself in a hospital bed, writing, ‘Birthing my baby for him to be put back in and 11 weeks later be born again’.
In a follow-up clip, Jaiden – who goes by the username @jaiden.ashlea – said: “They basically opened me up by C-section, repaired the defect in his back to the best of their ability, closed me back up and I stayed pregnant for the rest of the time.
“It’s very common for contractions to happen and preterm labour is always the biggest effect or impact of the surgery.
“But they monitor you very closely, so the next two weeks I’ll be in Orlando in a Ronald McDonald house after already being in hospital for a week.”
Explaining to one curious commenter how her baby was able to survive post-surgery without amniotic fluid, Jaiden revealed that medics had refilled it with saline.
Jaiden’s followers have been left marvelling at the wonders of modern medical science, with one person remarking, ‘What a phenomenal world we live in!’
Another wrote: “It’s just amazing what humans can do. Wishing you well with the rest of the