When Lauren Cook went in for a routine checkup at Stillwater Medical Center, an ultrasound uncovered an unusual birth defect: Her baby’s bowels could be seen floating outside of his body, suspended in amniotic fluid.
Lauren Cook was 28 weeks into her pregnancy with her second child, Bentley, when she went in for a routine checkup at Stillwater Medical Center, where she also works as a nurse. During the visit, an ultrasound uncovered an unusual birth defect: Her baby’s bowels could be seen floating outside of his body, suspended in amniotic fluid.
Bentley would need surgery, and an extended NICU stay right after birth—scary news for any mother to hear about their unborn child.
“Gastroschisis is seen in only one in 4,000 births,” says Mitchell West, M.D., a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist (OBGYN) specializing in women’s health at INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center. “It’s rare enough that an obstetrician might go their whole career without encountering it. Because the baby’s abdominal wall doesn’t close in development, the baby’s bowels protrude through the wall and outside of the body. If left untreated, it would be fatal.”
Lauren decided to transfer her care to INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center when the gastroschisis was discovered. She knew of INTEGRIS Health through her husband, whose grandmother received a double lung transplant at Baptist, the first-ever lung transplant performed in the state of Oklahoma. Lauren and her family then reached out to Dr. West who is known to be an obstetrician comfortable delivering babies with gastroschisis.
While the condition itself is daunting for an expecting mother, Dr. West says the birth and procedure were routine in large part because of the resources and staffing available at Baptist to handle such unique cases.
“Receiving a diagnosis like gastroschisis and expecting to be in the NICU is so stressful for moms,” Dr. West says. “But this is a good example of the services Baptist has that not every hospital is equipped to handle. We have a high-level NICU, we have great pediatric surgeons on hand, we have obstetricians who are comfortable with this level of complexity and we have access to maternal-fetal medicine specialists. It’s a situation that can be very complicated but was handled in a very controlled fashion. We were ready and able to prepare for it.”
Baby Bentley was born on Nov. 11 at four pounds, 11 ounces. He was very dehydrated and had lost a lot of fluid due to the condition. In addition to his small intestine and large intestine, his bladder had also protruded outside of his body.
Even still, Dr. West was able to deliver the baby vaginally. Lauren couldn’t hold her baby yet due to the gastroschisis, but Dr. West placed him on her belly for them to have that important skin-to-skin interaction before Bentley was admitted to the NICU for repair and recovery.
Heidi Cox, M.D., is a pediatric surgeon who has repaired conditions like gastroschisis before and performed the procedure on Bentley. Lauren notes that Dr. Cox really gave her peace of mind and the sense that her and her baby were in good hands.
"Bentley had most of his intestines extruding from a defect next to the umbilical cord," says Dr. Cox. "To fix this, a plastic silo was placed over the extruding organs and daily they were slowly pushed back inside the abdomen. After about a week, everything was inside and the silo was removed. The remaining defect was allowed to close on its own leaving a natural appearing umbilicus."
Lauren says Dr. Cox, as well as the labor and delivery team, made her feel comfortable throughout their stay, despite it being “a more complex pregnancy” and the added stress
of having a newborn in the NICU instead of at home.
Lauren had the opportunity to speak to the pediatric surgeons beforehand and to take a tour of the NICU, so she knew what to expect after delivering, which she also notes, was actually an “easier, less painful” birth than when she delivered her first. Since she lives in Stillwater, Lauren commuted three hours round trip to the NICU over the weekends to visit Bentley in person, but she also says she received daily updates from the nurses there, who would send her photos and talk on the phone with her to provide check ins on how her baby was doing.
“Both the doctors and nurses were very invested, genuinely concerned and involved. It was very reassuring,” Lauren says. “There’s something about being a NICU parent where you don’t feel like a parent yet, not being able to touch him or bring him home.
But everyone at INTEGRIS Health made us feel like parents. They made us feel at home, came to check on us and on the baby. They didn’t just take care of him. They were taking care of us too."
All told, Bentley was in the NICU for a little over a month and got to go home just before Christmas. Since then, Bentley is feeding fully, has gained weight and is well on his way to leading a normal life.
“The real story is not that Lauren had a baby with a rare birth defect, but really the story is that there is no story, because we were prepared,” Dr. West points out. “Lauren transferred to a facility that has all the resources and specialists needed, and that’s the beauty of a hospital like INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center, where treating complex pregnancies becomes a routine process and not something to fear.”
For baby Bentley and the Cook family, the future is bright. Mom and baby will meet regularly with Dr. Cox for follow-ups in the coming months to ensure there are no complications, but all looks good on that front.
“He’s the happiest baby boy,” says mom, “and we’re so grateful to Dr. West, Dr. Cox, the NICU nurses and everyone at INTEGRIS Health that made everything go so smoothly.”
To schedule an appointment or learn more about women’s health services at INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center, click here or call 405-713-4400.
INTEGRIS Health is very proud of the women's health services we provide in the state of Oklahoma and beyond.
