MEET BABY SCARLETT, WHO SURVIVED LIFE-SAVING SURGERY JUST 48 HOURS AFTER BEING BORN
Jamie Woods and Jade Curriez will treasure every cuddle with their baby daughter after she underwent life-saving surgery just 48 hours after her birth at Brisbane’s Mater Mothers’ Hospital.
Little Scarlett Woods was born last month with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH), a rare and potentially fatal condition in which the diaphragm – the muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen – fails to close during prenatal development.
The hole in Scarlett’s diaphragm allowed the organs in her abdomen, including her intestines, to move into the left side of her chest where her heart and left lung should be.
But following early intensive care and successful surgery at Mater, Scarlett was last week discharged to go home with her parents.
Mr Woods, 26, said the first-time parents were both in awe of their “tough little cookie”, who was born at 39 weeks gestation weighing 3.1kg.
“She’s strong. She’s a fighter and she’s thriving,” he said. “It’s hard to put into words what we have been through since her birth.
“I held Scarlett for the first time when she was around six days old, and it was love at first sight. There were tears, lots of tears.”
“It was the best feeling in the world. Watching her get bigger and stronger is just amazing.”
Scarlett received around-the-clock care from a multidisciplinary team in Mater’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU) for almost three weeks before her parents could take her home to Ipswich.
Mater Director of Neonatology Dr Pita Birch said CDH occurs in 1 in 2,600 to 1,3500 live births in Australia and has a survival rate of 50 to 60 per cent.
“There are only around 10 to 15 babies a year born with this condition at Mater,” Dr Birch said.
“The management of this condition is very complex, requiring a lot of skill and understanding from a multidisciplinary team.
“It consists of antenatal care and communication in preparation for birth, and delivery room care, including early intubation to support breathing and ensure that gas is not pushed into the bowel.
“Preoperative care in the NCCU is very intensive, including stabilisation and ventilation to expand the lungs as best as possible, as well as intravenous nutrition, as the baby can’t feed.”
Dr Birch said Scarlett’s chest X-ray at birth showed there was bowel in the left side of her chest and her heart and other organs were pushed to the right side.”
In a baby with CDH the organs from the tummy such as stomach, bowels and liver push through the hole in the diaphragm into the chest cavity and can affect the way the heart and lungs develop.
Which organs are in the chest cavity depends on which side of the diaphragm has not formed correctly and how big the hole is, Dr Birch said.
Ms Curriez, 26, who works as a nurse at Mater Private Hospital Springfield, noticed she had decreased fetal movement 37 weeks into her pregnancy and attended the Pregnancy Assessment Centre at Mater Mothers’ Hospital.
The centre provides 24/7 assessment for patients before and after birth.
After scans detected CDH, Ms Curriez was referred to the Mater Centre for Maternal Fetal Medicine.
“Everything happened so quickly,” Ms Curriez said.
“We saw surgical consultants, cardiac specialists, neonatal consultants and there was so many appointments – all of which we are grateful for.
“I was so nervous. We went from having what we thought was a healthy baby to a baby that needed life-saving surgery.”
Now at home with their first baby, the couple are enjoying time with their daughter and German shepherd, Xera.
Mr Woods said Scarlett’s personality was already shining through.
“She already loves getting her own way,” he laughed. “She’s a queen.”
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