(Oregon Right to Life) — A baby in France miraculously survived and was released from neonatal care late last year after implanting in the mother’s abdomen and growing there for 29 weeks.
In December 2023, the premature baby’s 37-year-old mother arrived at a hospital complaining of abdominal pain, according to a case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Physicians determined that the woman was carrying a second-trimester ectopic pregnancy and that the fetus was growing in her abdomen near the base of her spine, where the placenta had become attached.
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Abdominal ectopic pregnancies like the one described in the NEJM report are very rare.
Most ectopic pregnancies occur when the fertilized human egg implants in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus. Tragically, these pregnancies present a grave risk to both the mother and the baby, requiring the developing human being to be surgically removed. The procedures can save the life of the mother but result in the unintentional death of the unborn baby.
The tragic outcome of most ectopic pregnancies is not necessarily true of abdominal pregnancies, however.
“An abdominal pregnancy is the only type of ectopic pregnancy that can go beyond 20 weeks gestation,” Dr. Guillaume Gorincour, scientific director at IMADIS Teleradiology in Marseille, told MedPage, though high rates of fetal and maternal mortality persist.
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In the 2023 case in France, the unborn baby grew well past viability and was safely delivered.
Six weeks after the baby’s mother complained of experiencing pain, doctors performed an abdominal surgery – known as a laparotomy – to deliver the premature child.
Live Science reported that “[t]wenty-five days after the birth, the woman was discharged from the hospital…” Approximately a month later, during which the premature baby received care in a neonatal intensive care unit, the mother “was able to bring the baby home.”
The premature baby’s miraculous survival and birth underscore the incredible capacity of modern medicine and technology to save and sustain vulnerable babies.
The stories also demonstrate the preciousness of every human life, including the lives of unborn babies with challenging medical diagnoses.
Further Reading:
- New England Journal of Medicine: Abdominal Ectopic Pregnancy
- Live Science: Baby is born alive after growing in mother’s abdomen for 29 weeks
- MedPage: Baby Delivered From Rare Abdominal Ectopic Pregnancy
