A recent study investigated the effects of chemotherapy on babies whose mothers were treated for cancer during pregnancy. These cases are rare since only almost one in about 1,000 expectant moms is diagnosed with cancer. However, as most women's dream is to have babies in the future, and cancers are being diagnosed earlier, the numbers are expected to increase.
In April, a 39-year-old woman named Gina Neri received a happy surprise. She was expecting her third child. But life always has its way of ruining a good time. Gina had symptoms that led her doctor to do a colonoscopy. Her doctor knew right away and told Gina that she's looking at cancer. It was big and she was going to face surgery and chemotherapy, and the risk of her losing her baby is quite is quite high.
Neri told CBS News that her doctor wanted her to know that the chances of the baby surviving are slim to none. She added that several doctors told the couple to terminate the pregnancy. She said that the fear is that treatments like chemotherapy might harm the rapidly developing fetus.
According to Dr. Elyce Cardonick, who studies pregnant women with cancer, during the first trimester, the majority of the organs of the baby are developing, so if possible at all, chemotherapy doesn't happen until after the first trimester.
In the new study, European researchers followed 129 children whose mothers were treated for cancer mainly during their second or third trimesters. Although 79 of the children were born before they were fully termed, they had normal physical and cognitive development up to age three. Research suggests the placenta can act as a protective filter, depending on the type of chemo.
Neri still needed chemo, though. After nine rounds so far, baby Gianna Hope Neri was brought into the world on Friday, Nov. 6, looking healthy and weighing in at 6 pounds 9 ounces. Before giving birht, Neri told CBS News she just wanted a healthy baby, like any other mother. "I only want to touch her, hold her, love her, count all her toes and fingers, kiss her all over." That wish came true when baby Gianna came out. Neri wrote in an email how perfect her baby is in every way, and she ended her email with, "We are [on] cloud nine with the birth of our baby girl."
