Four doctors at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) conducted a successful blood transfusion procedure on a foetus while still in the mother’s womb.
KNH, in a news release on Monday, July 31, explained that the intrauterine foetal transfusion technique involves injecting red blood cells from a donor into the foetus. The statement said that the procedure was highly delicate and appreciated the doctor who worked on the patient.
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A group of four doctors, including interventional radiologist Dr. Kunjira Murayi and specialists Drs. Rosa Chemwey, Flavia Ogutu, and Ikol Adung’o performed the procedure. Nurses Mr. Benson Nyankuru, and Ms. Redempata Mumo, and a reproductive health clinical officer, Mr. Tony Wainaina, provided them with assistance.
The statement revealed that during the process of intrauterine foetal transfusion, medical professionals use ultrasound to locate the foetus and placenta before a surgeon puts a needle into the mother’s abdomen, the umbilical vein, or the abdomen of the foetus.
The operation, which lasts between 30 minutes and an hour, is advised when a foetus has anaemia, or a low red blood cell count. Because the infant was “rhesus alloimmunised,” Dr. Chemwey claimed that the infant had acute anemia and it necessitated the procedure.
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The team of doctors was praised for their effort in achieving the medical milestone with the CEO of Kenyatta National Hospital, Evanson Kamuri saying that KNH accomplished yet another goal in carrying out its duty as a top-tier referral hospital.