Texas baby 'born twice' in rare surgery

A baby was born for the second time at a Texas hospital on Friday, 12 weeks after having surgery to remove a tumour.

What started as a routine ultrasound became complicated when expectant mother Margaret Boemer, of Plano, Texas, was told her unborn child had a rare condition and needed surgery to survive.

"[At] 16 weeks being pregnant I found out that our baby had a sacrococcygeal teratoma," Boemer said.

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A sacrococcygeal teratoma is a tumour that develops before birth and grows from a baby's tailbone. It is the most common tumour found in babies, occurring in one of every 35,000 births.

While many doctors recommended terminating the pregnancy, Dr. Darrel Cass of the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, explained there was a surgical option he had performed once, some seven years ago, local news reported.

By 23 weeks, the tumour had grown to nearly the size of her baby.

"If we didn't choose the option of surgery that night [we were told] that within a day or two she would pass," Boemer said. 

Boemer opted for emergency surgery and her baby was surgically removed from her womb. After the tumour was removed, the baby was returned to the womb and Boemer remained in bed for 12 weeks, before delivering her baby via C-section just before week 36, a full term. 

After she was born, LynLee was deemed healthy, weighing 5.3 pounds (2.4 kilograms), and was placed in the nursery.

Seven days later she had another minor operation to remove the bits of tumour left over from her first surgery. 

By Friday she was back with her parents.