Little Fighter’ Preemie Baby Thrives After Surgeons Remove Spinal Tumor That Was Twice Her Weight

A premature baby girl is thriving months after she was saved by doctors who removed a rare spinal tumor weighing twice her weight at birth.

Baby Saylor was born to parents Rachel and Kieran Thomson of North Lakes, Queensland, three months early at Mater Mothers’ Hospital, which is Queensland’s flagship center for babies with complex cardiac and surgical needs.

The tiny infant was born weighing 1,025 grams (2.25 pounds) with a 2-kilo (4.4 pounds) sacrococcygeal teratoma—a tumor growing out of her tailbone. It’s a condition that is said to occur in just one out of 40,000 live births.

Saylor’s tumor was first identified in her 20-week scan, according to a statement by Mater Mothers’ Hospital. The Thomsons were told that their baby had a 25 to 40 percent chance of survival

Professor Sailesh Kumar of Mater Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit said they do not know why this type of tumor grows, but explained that it arises from embryonic germ cells and is four times more likely to occur in baby girls than boys.

“Saylor’s tumor was extremely large and very complex. The tumor extended into her pelvis and abdomen,” he said. “Essentially, these tumors function like a large vascular shunt causing a lot of blood to return to the heart. In some babies, the heart can’t cope with this extra volume, and heart failure occurs.”

It was Kumar who delivered Saylor alongside a team of 25 surgeons, neonatologists, anesthetists, theatre staff, nurses, and midwives in August. However, the new parents could not hold their baby immediately as Saylor needed emergency surgery to maximize her chance of survival.

Rachel said: “When the social worker and surgeons first gathered to tell us she had little chance of making it, due to prematurity and the tumor, I cried hysterically.”

After birth, Saylor was rushed into a complicated, six-hour operation performed by Dr. Peter Borzi, a neonatal and pediatric surgeon at Mater Mothers’ Hospital and Queensland Children’s Hospital.

Aside from removing the tumor—the largest ever removed from a baby of Saylor’s size at Mater Mothers’ Hospital—Borzi removed a portion of Saylor’s tailbone to prevent it from growing back.

According to Borzi, the procedure required five blood transfusions, but Saylor was “strong and resilient.”

Ten days after Saylor’s birth, Rachel and Kieran were able to hold their “strong-willed little fighter” for the very first time.

“[B]eing able to hold Saylor in my arms and know she has come through the other side is something special,” Rachel said.

Months later, baby Saylor has recovered and is going from strength to strength back home with her parents and big sister, Aubrey. In early November, her weight reached a healthy 3 kilos (6.61 pounds).

Mater neonatologist, Dr. Richard Mausling, praised the expertise and skill of Mater’s nursing staff and allied health teams that saved Saylor’s life. “Being born prematurely, even at 28 weeks, carries its own potential risks,” he said.

Rachel and Kieran chose to share Saylor’s story more broadly for World Prematurity Day on Nov. 17, hoping to raise the profile for premature infant care and other little fighters like their daughter.