WORLD PRAISES A SRILANKAN DOCTOR WHO SAVED A BABY BY RARE SURGERY AFTER MOTHER MISCARRIED HIS TWIN SISTER

By Walter Jayawardhana

Britons and Americans were jubilant that a Sri Lankan doctor was able to save a baby boy whose twin sister was miscarried by the mother through carrying out a rare surgical procedure to sew him into his mother's womb.

The rare surgery performed by Consultant Obstretcian Sumanaseela de Silva was on the British air hostess Kelly Bradburn and the her delivery of a normal baby has been flashed across the British press as a miracle.

Writing to the London’s Daily Mail the baby’s grandparents, Jenny and Keith Stainer called the birth a miracle and said, “We would like to send our thanks to Dr De Silva for looking after Kelly and bringing our grandson Archie safely into the world, it was a long and traumatic pregnancy for Kelly, and thanks to Dr De Silva we have Archie who is beautiful, he is a miracle for us all to treasure.”

After twenty weeks into her pregnancy of twins and going into an advanced stage of labor Kelly Bradburn . From Perton , West Midlands, in the United Kingdom was rushed into hospital where the Sri Lankan Consultant Obstetrician was working.

The 26 year old mother miscarried one of the twins, a girl , and that’s when the staff of the maternity unit of the Russells Hall Hospital at Dudley went into emergency action to save the other twin. The Obstetrician Sumanaseela De Silva performed an extremely rare rescue cerclage procedure on the patient.

Sumanaseela De Silva inserted a stich into Kelley’s cervix to close the opening and trap the second twin inside the womb, as he understood the tendency of the tissues to release the second one like the first. He thought by doing it he could keep the unborn baby for the full period until he is fully grown. Talking to the Sinhalese service of the BBC he said this is like tying the mouth of a gunny bag so that nothing could escape.

The London Daily Mail said , “It was only the ninth time this procedure had been carried out anywhere in the world, and doctors warned Mrs Bradburn and her husband Martyn that even after the operation the baby had only a 50/50 chance of survival.”

But the crossing of fingers was over when the baby Archie was born, weighing 5lb 11oz as a fully grown healthy one.

Kelley Bradburn, an air hostess working for Monarch Airlines was quoted having said , When we first came into hospital it was originally thought that we had lost both of the babies.

"But when we realised we hadn't, Mr De Silva told us about a possible procedure which could save our second baby. (In Britain Consultant physicians or surgeons are always called by the honorific title, Mister-a doctor being lesser one) "We knew even if it was a little chance then we still had to go for it."

She further said, "At 38 weeks Mr De Silva removed the stitch and Archie was born following a normal delivery.”

Sumanaseela de Silva said, that he was seeing the patient every three weeks and administered a steroid to help develop the baby’s lungs. He said, "Although this type of rescue procedure is not unique there have been, at most, eight cases reported in world medical literature.

"Often when the mother is fully dilated at such an early stage in her pregnancy she will progress to deliver the second twin, so it was a real challenge to save her baby. It was wonderful to deliver Kelly's baby and to know that both she and the baby are fit and healthy.”

And writing from Dover , United States, Susan Jarrett said, “This truly was a mircle. My daughter had twins and she almost lost them and I know the feeling when you think this is possible and then to witness such a mircle. May God continue to bless this family.”