Post by IBUKUN OLUWAKEMI FAGBEMI (@Ashab28)

Imagine being operated on before you are even born — and surviving.

That is what happened in Texas in 2016, when Nigerian-born surgeon Dr. Oluyinka O. Olutoye co-led a team of 21 doctors in one of the most extraordinary fetal surgeries ever performed.

At just 23 weeks of pregnancy, the baby had a large tumor growing near her tailbone that threatened her survival.

To remove it, surgeons carefully brought the fetus partially out of the womb while keeping her connected to the placenta. They then operated to remove the tumor before safely returning her to the uterus so the pregnancy could continue.

Dr. Olutoye co-led the highly complex procedure with a multidisciplinary team of specialists, combining expertise in fetal, pediatric and maternal surgery.

The baby remained in the womb for the remainder of the pregnancy and was later born healthy, turning an extraordinary medical intervention into a successful outcome.

The procedure brought international attention to Dr. Olutoye and his work in fetal and pediatric surgery, adding to his record as a Nigerian-born surgeon making significant contributions to medicine in the United States.

His story is a striking reminder that, in modern medicine, surgery can sometimes begin before a child takes their first breath.

#campusreformnigeria

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