A mother from Banff has spoken about how her son’s first breath could have killed him after he was born with a rare condition.
Lisa MacDonald expected a healthy baby boy when she learned she was pregnant, but was told instead that her son, Cody, would face a fight to survive.
Cody had developed a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) which meant his intestines had developed in his chest cavity and were pressing against both his lungs and his heart.
As a result, the child’s first breath could have been his last, but for medical intervention just seconds after he entered the world.
Ms MacDonald said last night: “The only thing I asked staff was if they could put him on my stomach to cut the chord, so I could have two seconds with him.”
But, after the umbilical cord was severed, Cody was rushed to an incubator where a plastic tube was forced down his throat to give him his first deep breath – a breath which would otherwise have crushed his internal organs.
Two days later, surgeons operated on the tot to repair his organs.
Ms MacDonald added: “There was no room for his lungs to form, so if he had taken a deep breath, it could have killed him.
“It was a waiting game. We were told that these babies have a honeymoon period, where it looks like they’re getting better but they aren’t, and that we shouldn’t get our hopes up.”
The baby spent two weeks in the neonatal unit at Aberdeen before he was deemed fit enough to leave.
Throughout that time, his own mother and her partner, Barry French, could only look on and touch his hand through the incubator.
The family is now recovering at their home in Banff, where they say surgeons are “over the moon” with his progress.
Ms MacDonald said: “He’s doing brilliantly now. Doctors said he did not have a lung on his left side, but there was lung tissue there and it might grow.
“When I took him in on Thursday, they could hear him breathing there, so it’s obviously starting to grow.”
However, his dramatic first moments of life will mean Cody needs regular check-ups to ensure his development continues as expected.
