Mother shares story of baby who was born inside out

One-month-old Dorothy Montgomery was diagnosed with an extreme form of gastroschisis - a birth defect where a hole in the abdominal wall allows organs to poke out.

This means that young Dorothy was born with her fallopian tubes, ovaries, intestines and bowels on the outside her stomach.

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Mother, Sadie, 21 is a hairdresser from Amesbury. She burst into tears when a midwife discovered Dorothy's rare condition during her 12-week scan in October 2023.

Sadie said: "All I remember hearing was the consultant telling me Dorothy’s 'guts' were out of her body.

"I couldn’t believe it was happening. I kept thinking 'what do you mean, guts?"

Dorothy in hospital (Image: SWNS)

Sadie discovered she was seven weeks pregnant on August 18, 2023. She went for her first scan two weeks later and was told that everything looked normal.

However, things drastically changed just three weeks on and doctors were concerned her unborn baby was seriously ill. 

Sadie said: "My nine-week scan was absolutely fine but at 12 weeks, they found it. 

"It was right at the last bit, the nurse noticed a 'mass' on the umbilical cord, or where it should've been. I was only 21, and I asked her what the hell she meant by that. 

Baby Dorothy (Image: SWNS)

"She gently told me that sometimes babies' tummies don’t form properly. I just burst into tears."

The young mother-to-be was taken into the family room and told it could be one of two conditions, the first was gastroschisis - which meant Dorothy would need her organs compressed but would likely go on to live a normal life afterwards.

The second condition, exomphalos, can be a lifelong birth defect in which the abdominal wall doesn’t form properly - resulting in hernias and further operations as children get older.

"At 16 weeks, they confirmed that, luckily, it was gastroschisis," Sadie said.

She didn’t need to take extra precautions during her pregnancy, except a scan every two weeks until birth. Sadie spent time researching the condition and trying to find other mums going through the same thing.

Baby Dorothy with parents Sadie and Drew (Image: SWNS)

She said: "There was barely anything on social media, except loads of explainers about what it is. I couldn’t find any other mums going through the same thing as me."

At 32 weeks, Sadie returned to Salisbury Family Planning Clinic for another scan, but midwives discovered Dorothy’s heart rate was very high. Sadie was sent for an emergency c-section after doctors couldn’t bring it down.

On February 12, 2024, Sadie was taken into theatre and Dorothy was born, weighing exactly 4lbs. 

“They wrapped her all up in clingfilm, and I was really lucky because they put her in a towel, and I got to see her for a little while. 

“But they transferred her to Southampton Hospital straight afterwards, to get her condition treated.”

Dorothy was accompanied by Sadie’s mum, Kelly, 44, and Dorothy's father, Sadie's partner, Drew, 23, who described to Sadie how bad the condition looked.

Sadie said: “It wasn’t just her bowel, or her umbilical cord, like I was expecting. It was everything. All her kidneys, stomach, liver, fallopian tubes, intestines and ovaries were out.

“Drew offered to take a picture, but I just refused. I didn’t want to see it.

“It was hard enough visiting her at Southampton and seeing all the tubes she was attached to.”

Doctors said they wanted to try compressing her organs back into her stomach - before exploring the option of surgery.  They used a silicone bag, or 'silo bag', to push them in and covered her umbilical cord with dressing and steri strips.

Within two weeks, Sadie was “shocked” to discover it had worked, and her stomach was completely clear. 

She said: “It was absolutely crazy, her tummy literally just closed. She’s so lucky, she never needed to be put out or operated on, I hear lots of babies with the same condition do.”

Six weeks on, Dorothy is now able to feed like a normal baby - having only been allowed to ingest 1ml of milk in her first two weeks. 

Sadie says she’s now “thriving” and is expected to go on to lead a perfectly normal life.

She added: “She’s doing really well, which is crazy given how far she’s come. After she was discharged, our doctors wanted to see her once a week, but appointments and check-ups are slowly becoming fewer and further between, which is good.”