Consultant helps save ‘miracle baby’ by going above and beyond | Latest news

The family of a baby who needed pioneering surgery whilst still in the womb to help save her life have thanked Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) Obstetric and Fetal Medicine Consultant, Magdalena Fiolna and the fetal medicine and neonatal teams, who went above and beyond to help them. 

First time Mum, Eleanor Brannigan, first met Dr Fiolna when she was just 27 weeks into her pregnancy with her daughter Eabha. Eleanor had had a private scan, which indicated a large amount of fluid in her baby’s body, so she came into the obstetric triage to be assessed. After meeting with Eleanor and her partner Adam Moseley, Dr Fiolna offered them an urgent scan in her clinic, which unfortunately showed their baby to be severely unwell and needing treatment to stop potential heart failure, due to fluid building up around her lungs and body.

Dr Fiolna explained that there were a few options; to monitor, watch and wait. This would likely result in more fluid building up leading to more complicated swelling, called fetal hydrops. To deliver to prevent further deterioration but delivering a baby at 27 weeks would lead to extreme prematurity with potential complications. Or draining the fluid, with either a needle, which would help, but only temporarily and would likely need to be repeated multiple times, or to insert a series of shunts to permanently drain the fluid, with the latter only being able to be carried out by specialists in large Fetal Medicine Centres, such as London or Birmingham. Dr Fiolna had worked and trained in London prior to relocating to Nottingham and so contacted the Fetal Medicine Research Institute and Professor Nicolaides who advised the shunt insertion to reverse the fluid accumulation. He offered an urgent appointment. Dr Fiolna then travelled with the family to London to meet with the team of specialists, who agreed to carry out the procedure to insert the shunts to help drain the fluid.

Dr Fiolna then met with the family weekly to monitor the shunts and check that everything was ok with baby Eabha. However, after a couple of weeks of monitoring, unfortunately the shunts stopped working, which is a known and common complication of the procedure. After discussing options, the family opted to be monitored and to have their daughter delivered if the need arose.

They kept in regular contact and Dr Fiolna even answered a call from the unit about Eleanor whilst she was at her friend’s wedding. Dr Fiolna explains: “Eleanor’s waters had ruptured and so the unit informed me. I was away but phoned the obstetric and the neonatal team on call to ensure that everyone knew what to do with the shunts if Eleanor needed an emergency birth. These shunts are uncommon, and I wanted to empower my colleagues so that they knew exactly what to do. I went to see Eleanor the next day to reassure her and to make a management plan. The day after, I was off but came in to scan her. Unfortunately, it became apparent that baby Eabha was poorly and that she needed to be delivered. My fetal medicine consultant colleague Mr McEwan, was on call and we decided to take Eleanor to theatre to drain the fluid from both of Eabha’s lungs before delivering her by a caesarean section. This way, she could take her first breaths like any other baby to expand her lungs. We could also delay the cord clamping, allow more time for her assessment by the neonatal doctors and nurses to plan more permanent drainage of fluid after birth.”

This resulted in baby Eabha being born at 31 weeks and being less sick immediately after birth. Although she was still very poorly, after 12 weeks of being in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at NUH, she pulled through. Eabha is now at home and is doing very well.

Dr Fiolna added: “She is a miracle baby and if we had not intervened, she might not be here with her family now. I am so very pleased that we were able to help and that Eabha is now at home and doing really well.”

Eabha’s Mum, Eleanor said: “We will be eternally grateful for all the help and support of Dr Fiolna and the teams that helped to save and look after Eabha. Had we not met Dr Fiolna that day when we came in to get checked out, then the outcome may have been so very different.

“It is amazing what can be done in the womb before babies are even born. The team in London were fantastic and we were so lucky that Dr Fiolna had the contacts there that she does. The fetal medicine team and neonatal teams have all been so supportive and we could not have asked for more. Thank you to everyone for looking after us and for going above and beyond for our family. Eabha will always be our special miracle baby, she is a little fighter and we are just so grateful that she is here with us.”