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(Image source: Fox News / Lucile Packard Children's Hospital)
BY COLLIN RUANE
It's an illness which had no survival rate until now. A Washington state Congresswoman
and her husband say their baby has beaten the odds and survived a fatal disease known
as Potter's Syndrome.
Potter's Syndrome is an illness which causes poor amniotic fluid transfer. That hinders
kidney function as well as lung development. (Via ABC)
Republican Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, who represents the Vancouver area in Washington
state, gave birth to 2 lb. 12 oz. Abigail Rose Beutler July 15 after just 28 weeks of
pregnancy. (Via KPTV)
But when she was just five months pregnant, Beutler's doctor told her the baby wouldn't
be able to live. At that time, there were no recorded cases of babies surviving Potter's
Syndrome. (Via Fox News)
The New York Daily News reports Beutler wouldn't give up despite any bad news: "The staunchly
pro-life lawmaker learned of the devastating diagnosis in the second trimester but was
adamant that she ... would continue with the pregnancy."
Beutler and her husband appeared on the Today show Friday and reflected on the grim prognosis
given to her during pregnancy.
REP JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER: "Your baby has no options, it's incompatible with life, it's
terminal. And at that moment, she was moving, I mean, she was moving in me, and he's telling
me she's not going to live." (Via NBC)
But how were doctors able to save Abigail with the odds against them?
After a desperate search for a solution, the Beutlers found a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital
who tried an unproven treatment. Over the last few weeks of her pregnancy, Beutler was
injected with saline solution in hopes of being able to replace the lack of amniotic
fluid. (Via Daily Mail)
The treatment appears to have helped in the miracle birth. Most babies with Potter's Syndrome
are delivered as stillborns because their lungs don't work outside the womb, but Abigail's
did. (Via KGW-TV)
Abigail is still receiving treatment at a California hospital, but her mother will briefly
return to work to vote on President Obama's plan to intervene in Syria. Beutler hasn't
announced how she plans to vote. (Via The Inquisitr)
Doctors say Abigail will need to get a kidney transplant in the next year, but expect she
will live a full life. It's not clear when she'll be able to go home from the hospital.