A baby girl born with her heart outside her body is reportedly ‘doing well’ after undergoing three operations to put her heart back in her chest, the BBC reports.

 

Vanellope Hope Wilkins, who is believed to be the only child in the UK who survived this extremely rare condition, is only three weeks old. 

 


Only a few babies out of every million have the condition, and with a survival rate of less than 10 percent, sadly the result is often stillbirth.

 

Several children in the U.S. with the condition have lived, though. 

 

 

Vanellope's mum Naomi and dad Dean found out that their daughter had ectopia cordis during a nine-week scan, according to the Guardian.

 

Despite recommendations to terminate the pregnancy, they decided to keep their little girl.

 

Vanellope was delivered via Caesarean on November 22 to prevent infection or damage to the heart as she did not develop a breastbone.

 

She had her first operation at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester only 50 minutes after being born. 

 

 

The latest surgery, her third one, covered the hole in her chest with her own skin.

 

"Before she was born things looked very bleak", Francis Bu'lock, a consultant paediatric cardiologist, said to the BBC.

 

"But now they are quite a lot better - Vanellope is doing really well and has proved very resilient."

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