Congresswoman Herrera Beutler announces birth of 'miracle' baby
PORTLAND -- Two-term U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler announced the birth of a baby daughter Monday, two weeks after the child was born with Potter's Sequence, a rare and typically fatal disease.
Herrera Beutler, R- Wash, announced the birth of Abigail Rose Beutler on her Facebook page. The baby was only 28 weeks old, weighed 2 pounds, 12 ounces and suffered from the bilateral renal agenesis caused by the absence of amniotic fluid in the womb critical for lung development.
Babies born with Potter's Sequence are typically incapable of breathing and die moments after birth. According to Herrera Beutler's Facebook page, multiple doctors recommended the congresswoman either terminate her pregnancy or undergo expectant management, waiting for the baby to die shortly after a natural birth. Instead, Herrera Beutler underwent an experimental procedure at John Hopkins Hospital injecting saline into her womb in hopes of giving the baby's lungs a chance to develop. After five infusions, Herrera Beutler went into pre-term delivery and birthed the baby, who came out crying and breathing at Emanual Legacy Hospital in Portland.
"She is every bit a miracle," Herrera Beutler said.
Following the birth the baby was sent to Lucile Packard Children's hospital in Stanford, Calif., for kidney treatment. She is currently under kidney dialysis but stable and breathing on her own, Herrera Beutler said.
The baby is the first baby born with bilateral renal agenesis to breath on her own in the U.S. and perhaps the world, Beutler said. She attributes the baby's birth to both medical staff and the power of prayer.