Unborn human life
Miracle baby survives ovarian pregnancy May, 2008
The proud father of a "miracle baby" born in Darwin has described his wife's pregnancy as "a time bomb".
Durga Thangarajah is the only child in Australia - and possibly the world - to survive a full-term ovarian pregnancy.
But the healthy 2.8kg bundle was on Friday oblivious to all the fuss caused by her remarkable entry into the world at 8.47am(CST) on Thursday.
"This form of pregnancy is rare enough, but to have it full term is unheard of," said obstetrician Andrew Miller from Darwin Private Hospital.
"I have never come across it in any hospital ... .
"It truly is a miracle she got a living baby out of it."
Ovarian pregnancies are the rarest form of ectopic pregnancies and occur when the egg fails to travel down the fallopian tube and into the uterus.
Instead, the foetus fertilises inside the ovary itself.
Midwife Dee Keogh said the operating room was astonished when 34-year-old Meera Thangarajah was cut open to deliver her second child during a routine caesarean section at 38 weeks.
"We could see the baby straight away," she said.
"Normally the baby is inside the uterus (but) we could see the baby clearly, its hair, all its features. I think everybody just thought wow - she is one lucky lady."
Ovarian pregnancies affect one in every 40,000 pregnancies and are considered a life threatening complication, with pregnancies usually terminated before 10 weeks.
Ms Keogh said most expectant mothers suffering from the condition experienced pain or bleeding.
Ravi Thangarajah, 40, was all smiles as he spoke about his new daughter Durga, which means Goddess in Hindu.
"The doctor and the paediatrician came in and told me it was like a miracle baby, you're one of the luckiest men in the world at the moment," he said.
"When you look at all the odds against us. I work for Sportingbet Australia and people reckon it's all about the odds. I tell you we beat all the odds!"
Mr Thangarajah said he had to "go to Google" to find out about the condition.
"It's slowly sinking in for me what happened. They keep telling me how risky it was for the mother. We didn't know it was this time bomb," he said.
"It could have been a disaster."
As for his wife, still sore after a two-hour operation, she said the family was looking forward to going home in a week.
"When they told me about it, I just thought 'Oh, my goodness'," she said.
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The proud father of a "miracle baby" born in Darwin has described his wife's pregnancy as "a time bomb".
Durga Thangarajah is the only child in Australia - and possibly the world - to survive a full-term ovarian pregnancy.
But the healthy 2.8kg bundle was on Friday oblivious to all the fuss caused by her remarkable entry into the world at 8.47am(CST) on Thursday.
"This form of pregnancy is rare enough, but to have it full term is unheard of," said obstetrician Andrew Miller from Darwin Private Hospital.
"I have never come across it in any hospital ... .
"It truly is a miracle she got a living baby out of it."
Ovarian pregnancies are the rarest form of ectopic pregnancies and occur when the egg fails to travel down the fallopian tube and into the uterus.
Instead, the foetus fertilises inside the ovary itself.
Midwife Dee Keogh said the operating room was astonished when 34-year-old Meera Thangarajah was cut open to deliver her second child during a routine caesarean section at 38 weeks.
"We could see the baby straight away," she said.
"Normally the baby is inside the uterus (but) we could see the baby clearly, its hair, all its features. I think everybody just thought wow - she is one lucky lady."
Ovarian pregnancies affect one in every 40,000 pregnancies and are considered a life threatening complication, with pregnancies usually terminated before 10 weeks.
Ms Keogh said most expectant mothers suffering from the condition experienced pain or bleeding.
Ravi Thangarajah, 40, was all smiles as he spoke about his new daughter Durga, which means Goddess in Hindu.
"The doctor and the paediatrician came in and told me it was like a miracle baby, you're one of the luckiest men in the world at the moment," he said.
"When you look at all the odds against us. I work for Sportingbet Australia and people reckon it's all about the odds. I tell you we beat all the odds!"
Mr Thangarajah said he had to "go to Google" to find out about the condition.
"It's slowly sinking in for me what happened. They keep telling me how risky it was for the mother. We didn't know it was this time bomb," he said.
"It could have been a disaster."
As for his wife, still sore after a two-hour operation, she said the family was looking forward to going home in a week.
"When they told me about it, I just thought 'Oh, my goodness'," she said.
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posted by Father Ted at
10:47 am
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