Baby who had heart op at just 2 hours old now almost 18 months

A baby girl who underwent a life-saving heart operation at just two hours old is now thriving over one year on.

Married parents Oliver and Louise King refused to abort Emi when doctors said a twelve-week scan revealed that her heart chambers were too small to allow her to survive.

But baby Emi is now 17 months old, after becoming the youngest patient in Britain to have a balloon temporarily inserted into her heart to increase the space for blood flow.

‘Tiny’

Mum Louise reflected: “The hole was so tiny that doctors worried she wouldn’t survive the time it took to have a natural birth, so Emi had to be born by caesarean.”

Following the initial operation, Emi required open heart surgery at six days old to correct her arteries and later had to be placed on a ventilator due to a collapsed lung.

But after successfully overcoming the trials, Emi’s parents said: “She’s climbing everywhere, and her sisters dote on her. They tell her the scar on her chest is her bravery scar!”

Twins

Abortion in Britain is legal for most reasons up to 24 weeks, and is available up to birth for children deemed to have a disability.

Last year, a mother who refused to abort one of her children after being told it could save the other shared her joy that “both boys are healthy and doing really well”.

Parents Jordan and Chris Pritchard were informed after a scan that their twins had selective intrauterine growth restriction, where the placenta fails to provide an equal amount of nutrients to both babies, which can cause one to become malnourished.

But although they were advised to abort the smaller twin, Jordan went on to give birth to both boys in 2022 and the family were due to celebrate their first Christmas at home together in December.