An Ontario mother says she never doubted the team of doctors and medical staff who performed life-saving surgery on her baby boy 鈥� while he was still in the womb.
Kristine Barry told 麻豆影视 Channel on Wednesday that her now two-month-old son Sebastian is expected to lead a normal life, after doctors in Toronto performed a tricky in-utero procedure on his heart weeks before birth.
鈥淗e鈥檚 doing amazing,鈥� Barry said from her home in Barrie, Ont., north of Toronto, as she cradled little Sebastian in her arms.
When she was 23 weeks pregnant, Barry and her husband discovered that the baby had two congenital heart defects. Scans showed that Sebastian鈥檚 aorta and his pulmonary artery were switched, and he also had no openings in the walls between the upper and lower chambers of his heart. That would have prevented his blood from circulating properly after birth and put his life in danger.
Doctors at Toronto鈥檚 Mount Sinai and Sick Kids hospitals to open up a hole in the wall between the two chambers of Sebastian鈥檚 heart. The procedure involved inserting and inflating a tiny balloon to create the hole.
鈥淎s crazy as it sounded, it was a much better alternative to a caesarean and then having a very short window of opportunity to do the balloon procedure,鈥� Barry said.
Despite the high-risk situation, Barry said hospital staff never gave her 鈥渁ny reason to doubt them.鈥�
鈥淚 knew that no matter what happened that day鈥hat (Sebastian) was well looked after,鈥� she said.
The procedure was successful and Sebastian underwent more surgeries after his May 23 birth to ensure proper blood flow and heart function.
He鈥檚 now happy and healthy, although doctors are still monitoring his heart and arteries, Barry said.
鈥淎s for development, they say that he鈥檚 to develop as a normal child should,鈥� she added.
With files from The Canadian Press
