My baby had surgery IN MY WOMB!

Baby Ethan received life-saving surgery before he was born

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Carla Sikes and her partner Mick McElhenny held each other and wept in the hospital carpark. They'd just been told their baby boy had spina bifida, which can result in severe disabilities.

"The obstetrician explained my baby's spinal cord and nerves were exposed in an open, clear sack on his back. There was no skin covering it," says Carla, 33.

The mum from Yeppoon, Queensland, who was 20 weeks pregnant at the time, felt her whole world implode. "I was in shock. I wasn't expecting that or any diagnosis. Once it sunk in, I was an emotional wreck."

But there was a glimmer of light in the darkness. Carla's obstetrician at Rockhampton's Mater Private Hospital explained surgery to repair the spine could be done once bub was born - or possibly even in utero. It wasn't a cure, but it could improve the baby's mobility and chances of walking independently.

It was a lot to take in, but Carla and Mick, 37, who run a construction company together, knew they had to be strong for the journey ahead.