While pregnant, she learned her daughter had spina bifida, a congenital anomaly that can affect a child’s mobility. The condition occurs in one of every 3,000 births in the U.S., and is 'slightly more common' in Utah, according to a news release.
Abigail Rose’s parents and doctors celebrate “major milestone” a year after her spina bifida surgery.
Last year, on April 6, 2021, Keyworth underwent the first in-utero fetal surgery to be performed in Utah. About a month later, she gave birth to Abigail Rose via cesarean section at University of Utah Hospital. Since helping Keyworth and her daughter, Dr. Stephen Fenton, the director of the Utah Fetal Center, said his team has done this surgery two more times to repair spina bifida on a fetus while still in the uterus.For instance, there is a condition called twin-twin transfusion syndrome, Fenton said, where two twins share a placenta, “and one twin kind of steals blood from the other.” Using a laser, doctors can divide blood vessels and improve the chances that both twins are born at term, he said.
“That just gets shattered,” she said. “You’re told she may never walk. She may never do this, do that. ... I spent probably a week and a half just crying because there’s so many unknowns with this diagnosis.” Doctors exposed and opened Keyworth’s uterus, he said, closed the spina bifida on Abigail Rose, and then closed Keyworth up to recover.
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