Baby Saif has undergone a series of complex medical procedures, including surgery while still in his mother's womb, after a 12-week scan revealed he had a severe defect in his diaphragm.
But, following a 135-day stay in the neonatal intensive care unit at Burjeel Medical City in Abu Dhabi, Saif is ready to go home.
Latifa and her husband, an Emirati couple from Al Ain, were ecstatic when they learnt they were expecting their first child through IVF, after five years of marriage.
However, a 12-week pregnancy scan in November detected the serious diaphragmatic defect, which was causing Saif's bowel and liver to protrude into the thorax, the area of the body between the neck and the abdomen.
A congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a rare condition that occurs when the diaphragm – the muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen – fails to close during prenatal development.
This allows abdominal organs such as the stomach, intestines and liver to move into the chest.
When the abdominal organs are in the chest, they can crowd the heart and lungs and keep the lungs from growing normally.
“It was crushing,” Latifa told The National, recalling the moment she heard the diagnosis.
“I was never going to give up on him and was willing to accept whatever God had planned for him, but it was a difficult journey. It does still feel like a dream.”
Latifa was advised to give birth at a government hospital in Abu Dhabi and later move her son to a specialist paediatric hospital for the required surgery
However, she decided against taking any risks with Saif's care.
“I had a friend whose baby also had CDH and her son died while being taken by ambulance to another hospital, so I wasn’t willing to take any risks.”
The couple sought out specialists and consulted Dr Mandeep Singh, consultant in foetal maternal medicine and obstetrics at Kypros Nicolaides Fetal Medicine and Therapy Center at Burjeel Medical City.
“As the pregnancy advanced, it was clear that the defect was severe, and this had led to both lungs being severely compressed,” Dr Singh said.
“The chances of the baby surviving with such a serious defect are around 10-15 per cent.
“Their only hope was to undergo a complex in-utero procedure called the Feto procedure (foetal endotracheal occlusion), in which a balloon is placed in the baby’s trachea using a fetoscope to encourage lung growth.”
Overcoming challenges
At 27 weeks' gestation, the first surgery was carried out, the Feto procedure at Burjeel Medical City.
Four days later, Latifa began bleeding and losing amniotic fluid. She remained hospitalised until her delivery in March.
“Honestly, the care I received here is like nothing else. I had the entire medical team checking on me every day,” she said.
At 32 weeks, Latifa went into labour, and the medical team performed the second surgery, a specialised operation known as Exit (ex-utero intrapartum treatment), allowing the baby to be partially delivered while still attached to the placenta.
This procedure provided Saif with oxygen from his mother as the medical team stabilised his breathing before delivery.
Dr Irfan Basha burst the balloon in Saif's trachea and inserted a tube to help him breathe. The baby was then delivered and transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit, where he underwent another major operation, a surgical repair of the diaphragm, at six days old.
“Seeing the entire medical team doing surgery for Saif in the NICU was overwhelming,” Latifa said. “Saif's organs were so small that they needed a magnifying glass.”
For Latifa, seeing her baby in the unit brought mixed feelings of pain, joy, and fear. The couple travelled daily from Al Ain to Abu Dhabi to be by their baby’s side and ensure he received the best care possible.
“It was a challenging time. My husband and family supported me, giving me the confidence that this would pass,” she said.
“The hospital felt like a second family, providing us with compassionate care.”
Getting ready to go home
After four and a half months, baby Saif is ready to go home.
“This was truly a blessing. I can't believe that after all this struggle, we will now go home,” Latifa said.
“I am truly grateful to BMC and the team for all the care they have shown us.
“This hospital and all the staff became my second family, especially with my family being far away in Al Ain.”
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,000mm, Winners: Mumayaza, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Monster Hunter: World
Capcom
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
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Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
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Specs
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The biog
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The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
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MATCH INFO
Jersey 147 (20 overs)
UAE 112 (19.2 overs)
Jersey win by 35 runs
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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De De Pyaar De
Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
