A very special delivery
Lucy was delivered by Caesarean section at Cork University Maternity Hospital just after 10am yesterday, a few months after doctors used the revolutionary new €2 million da Vinci Surgical System to prolong her mother’s pregnancy.
Anne is one of the first women in Europe to be assisted in a successful pregnancy by this type of surgery.
Anne and her husband, Patrick, 35, from Donoughmore, Co Cork, lost their first child in February 2010, five months into pregnancy.
When Anne became pregnant again last year Dr Barry O’Reilly, a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at the hospital, advised a new approach.
He used the da Vinci robot to insert a special stitch called an interval abdominal cervical cerclage, designed to keep the cervix closed. A closed cervix helps a baby stay inside the uterus until the end of a pregnancy.
And yesterday, little Lucy was born, weighing in at exactly 6lb. “She has long eyelashes like her dad,” Anne said. “It has been a long road but we have reached our destination. I’m relieved that all has gone well and that baby Lucy has arrived safe and well.”
“We couldn’t believe it until we saw the end result,” said Patrick. “I was nervous and apprehensive before the birth, but it’s great now to have this little angel with us.”
Dr O’Reilly said the couple had a difficult time last year, but he was delighted with the outcome. “I’m absolutely delighted,” he said. “It’s nice to see the end of the journey.
“What da Vinci has allowed us to do is to prolong the pregnancy to this stage where little Lucy has been born healthy and well.
“This is a great day for us in Cork. This is obviously the way of the future for women who have problems like this, because we can actually do something that will help them.”
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