A mum was relieved to see her newborn son kick his legs after he had spinal surgery while still inside the womb.
Serena Nye, 24, was told after her 20-week pregnancy scan her unborn son had spina bifida.
It meant his spine and spinal cord was not developing properly, causing a gap in his spine, leaving at high risk of weakness or total paralysis of his legs.
Serena and partner Chris Bown, 26, were given the choice to continue normally, terminate the pregnancy, or have fetal surgery.
So in an incredible operation, doctors took Serena’s womb OUT of her body, at 26 weeks, to operate on her unborn son’s spine via keyhole surgery.
After the three hour operation, her womb – and baby – were stitched up back inside her body again until it was time to give birth.
Tommy Bown was born six weeks later, at 31 weeks – and was able to kick his legs and feed normally as a result of the surgery.
He spent four weeks in hospital before doting parents Serena and Chris brought him home, to Eastbourne, East Sussex.
Thanks to the super advanced surgery, the tot, now three months old, is hitting all his milestones – and a scar on his back from the surgery is the only evidence of his op.
Serena, a customer service team leader, said: “When we found out he had spina bifida, we were in shock.
“We heard all these stories – we thought he would never walk, or eat on his own.
“But I knew I had to have the surgery to give him the best chance, even though it would be intense – I had never had a surgery before in my life.
“A few weeks later I went into labour and had an emergency C-section – and Tommy was born premature.
“I saw him in the incubator, and he was so tiny – but his legs were moving!
“After weeks in the NICU, it was a massive relief to bring him home – with his scar on his back as a crazy reminder of what happened.
“Now, I look down at my baby and I think ‘you have no idea what you’ve been through already’.”
Serena and Chris, a soldier, were referred for a specialist scan because midwives spotted something during their 20-week gender scan.
The following week they drove up to the specialist clinic in London where their little boy was diagnosed with spina bifida.
Because of the way his spine was growing, and a cyst that was developing at the base of his spine, they were warned that it would likely cause him to be severely disabled.
Serena said: “They gave us the options to terminate the pregnancy, to carry on, or have fetoscopic surgery.
“The whole thing was a very numbing experience.”
After discussing with doctors and other parents, they decided to go for the complex surgery to give him the best chance at a normal life.
Serena said: “Leading up to the surgery, I was so nervous – we knew there were risks, but the positives were still higher.
“If we could give him the chance not to need a shunt, or to be able to walk, why wouldn’t we go for it?”
The surgery took place on August 15, 2024, at King’s College Hospital, in Lambeth, and everything went smoothly.
Because of his health conditions, doctors expected the baby to be born a bit early – but hoped to reach 36 weeks.
But at 30 weeks and six days, a check-up revealed Serena’s cervix shortening.
Two days later, she was being rushed to her local hospital, Conquest Hospital Maternity Unit, because she was getting pains and bleeding.
Serena said: “Shortly after arriving, I told the midwife I wanted to push, and she pressed a button then a flood of professionals came in.
“They said the baby was coming, I was in labour, but my waters hadn’t broken yet so I needed surgery.
“I had an emergency caesarean section due to him also being breech, and baby Tommy was born at 6:53am on September 21, weighing 3lbs 15oz.
“We had no idea what he would be capable of when he was born even though he showed good signs during pregnancy.
“We wanted to be prepared for any outcome.
“The first thing my partner said when I came around was that Tommy’s legs were moving – he could move!”
Because Tommy was premature, he was transferred to King’s College Hospital where he spent three and a half weeks in a specialist NICU before being transferred back to Conquest Hospital.
Tommy was finally taken home on October 19, and has been growing stronger and hitting milestones ever since.
The wound on his back from his surgery is now healed – and serves as a reminder of his fight.
Serena said: “I can’t wait to sit him down and tell him what he went through when he’s older.
“The next steps are waiting for him to crawl and seeing how he moves, but we’ll face every challenge with strength and determination.
“If we hadn’t done the surgery while I was pregnant, he would have been born more poorly and would have needed lots of surgeries after birth.
“Now, nobody can believe how well he is doing.”
