Kozhikode: A mother’s strong determination saved her baby who was diagnosed with a serious heart problem while still in the womb. Despite risks to her own life, she chose to undergo a rare and complicated keyhole surgery during pregnancy to give her 22-week-old baby a chance to survive.

The procedure, called in-utero keyhole heart valve surgery (fetal cardiac intervention), was successfully performed at Aster MIMS Hospital in Kozhikode. Hospital officials said this was the first time such an operation was done in Kerala and only the fourth in India.

Mohsina K., from Wayanad, faced this challenging situation when doctors found that her baby’s heart was not pumping blood properly because one of the valves was very narrow. This made it hard for enough blood to flow through the heart.

Dr Renu P. Kurup, head of the paediatric cardiology team, suggested surgery to help the baby.

Doctors first tried to widen the valve by inflating a tiny balloon inside the womb, but it did not work. When they attempted surgery by making a small opening in the mother’s womb, the baby’s position made it difficult to operate.

However, three days later, a second attempt was successful. Using a balloon valvuloplasty, they were able to open the valve and improve the baby’s heart function to near normal.

A team of expert doctors, including Drs P.S. Sreeja, Edwin Francis, Girish Warrier, K.S. Remadevi, P. Sujatha, Sabareenath Menon, Anu Jose, Nabeel Faisal, P.S. Priya, and Nashra, performed the surgery on May 15.

After the gestation period, Mohsina gave birth by Caesarean section at Kozhikode Medical College on July 31 .

Mohsina’s husband is a goods vehicle driver. The hospital said that all treatment has been provided free of charge. Both mother and child are expected to leave the hospital within two days, expressing their heartfelt gratitude to the doctors for the successful outcome.