Baby girl survives with heart growing outside body in Britain

LONDON, Dec.13 (Xinhua) -- A baby girl, who is born with her heart outside of her body, has survived three operations and is doing well, reported British media Wednesday.

Vanellope Hope Wilkins, delivered three weeks ago by caesarean section, is believed to be the first in Britain to survive with the extremely rare condition.

She was diagnosed with ectopic cordis after a scan several weeks into her mum Naomi Findlay's pregnancy which showed that her heart and part of her stomach were growing outside of her body.

Her parents,living in Nottinghamshire, were advised to terminate the pregnancy. But Naomi, 31, already a mother of two kids, said no.

Three weeks after her premature birth by caesarean section on November 22, Vanellope has survived three operations at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, to move her heart back inside her chest.

Immediately after her birth, she was wrapped in a sterile plastic bag. After seven days, her chest was opened a bit more to create space to allow her heart to fit back in.

The latest operation involved taking skin from under her arms and moving it to join in the middle of her body.

The next challenge for the little baby girl is to take off the ventilator, which is being used to aid her recovery from surgery.

Her parents called her a "real fighter".

The condition, ectopia cordis, is extremely rare, with only a few cases per million births, of which most are stillborn. Babies born with the condition have less than a ten-percent chance of survival. Enditem