Baby Nel: part two

Posted on 16 February 2015

Ronelle Nel went in for surgery on 16 August 2014. Dr Pistorius and his team (pictured above) were going to perform the EXIT procedure.

The EXIT procedure is done to ensure a baby with a possible airway obstruction can be born safely. A Caesarean section is performed under general anaesthetic and only the baby’s neck and head are delivered, leaving the rest of the baby’s body in the mother’s uterus. This means the baby still receives oxygen from the mother’s placenta, while the surgical team secures its airway.

The mother receives quite a large dose of general anaesthetic so her womb is relaxed enough to allow the blood flow through the placenta to continue, and so the baby is also anaesthetised.

Here’s the first part of the story in case you missed it.

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