Key Takeaways:

• Raegan and Josh Barnard learned that their preborn daughter had a growth under her tongue that was blocking her airway. Doctors feared she wouldn't be able to breathe after birth.
• Doctors proposed a rare procedure that involved partially delivering Charlotte and inserting a breathing tube so she could be given oxygen when she was born.
• The procedure was successful, and Charlotte is doing well.
• A future surgery to remove the growth is planned.

The Details:

During a 20-week ultrasound, Raegan and Josh Barnard learned that their preborn daughter, Charlotte, had a growth under her tongue that was blocking her airway. Doctors didn't know if she would be able to breathe after birth and offered to carry out an EXIT procedure. The Ex Utero Intrapartum Treatment—or EXIT—procedure is a very rare, very complex surgery that involves partially delivering the baby. In some cases, the baby is placed back inside the uterus when the procedure is complete. Other times the baby is fully delivered after the procedure is done. In Charlotte's case, a breathing tube was placed before she was fully delivered to ensure she could receive oxygen.

The EXIT procedure was the best chance Charlotte had of surviving.

"It was kind of overwhelming at first," said Raegan, "just nervous and fearful of what all of that meant."

Dr. Brad Buckler, medical director of the Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit at Willett Children's Hospital, explained, "We actually delivered the top half of Charlotte and the bottom half was still inside the uterus, allowing us to be able to leave her attached to the placenta and the umbilical cord so that she could continue to get the blood and oxygen that her brain and her body needed while we worked on getting a breathing tube in and ensuring that we could provide that support for her."

READ: 'World's oldest baby' was frozen for 30 years until he was adopted

The medical team practiced the procedure in the weeks leading up to Charlotte's delivery.

"We did dry runs where we brought everybody into the O.R. and had a fake patient on the bed so that we could go through this step by step, so that we had every single angle covered that we possibly could think of that might go right or wrong on that day. Luckily, everything went exactly as we wanted and planned to have," said Buckler.

After her birth, Charlotte was given medication to reduce the size of the growth and remained in the NICU for two weeks. A surgery is planned to remove what is left of the growth in the coming months, but doctors believe Charlotte will live a normal, healthy life. (Screengrab image: via WJCL-ABC)

"She's been a normal baby," said Raegan. "She eats and does everything she's supposed to." She added that she and her husband are "so thankful" for Charlotte's medical team.

Why It Matters:

All preborn children deserve to be treated as human beings worthy of medical care. Prenatal testing and diagnostic measures are often used to target babies with health conditions for abortion. It has become so common for doctors to offer abortions to parents whose children receive a prenatal diagnosis or even a suspected diagnosis.

Prenatal screening is a pro-life tool that should be used exactly as it was used for Charlotte—to prepare for a child's birth and medical needs to best support them. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

Barron Trump Is 'Very Close' to Salvation, Says Pastor Who Had Midnight Call With the First Son

'Country Ever After' Star Loses 7-Year Battle to Colon Cancer: 'Slipped Into the Arms of Jesus'

FBI Warns About Ransom Scams Involving Fake 'Proof of Life' Photos

The Hill: Somali Scandal Could Sink Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's Political Career

ICE Warns Illinois Is Releasing Violent Criminal Illegal Aliens Despite Detainers: 'They're Deciding that Dangerous Criminals ... Are More Important Than the Families That Live Here'

Inflation Lower than Expected, New BEA Report Reveals, Sparking Fed Rate-Cut Hopes

Nigeria Secures Release of 100 Schoolchildren Abducted from Catholic School after Weeks in Captivity

US Supreme Court Approves Lone Star State's New Congressional Maps

Street Preacher's Arrest in Mississippi Sparks Supreme Court Case on Free Speech Rights

Trump Offers Plan for Healthcare Cost Crisis, GOP Senator Vows 'We're Going to Fix Obamacare'

Nigerian Persecution Horror: Expert Dismantles Disturbing Media Narrative

Man Dies on Operating Table, Meets Jesus, Sees Heaven; Stunned Doctor Says: 'God's Not Done with You'

Florida Moves to Redistrict in Congressional Maps Arms Race

Maduro's Ex-Insider Turns Whistleblower, Sends President Trump an Explosive Letter

Experts Warn Parents AI Christmas Toys Put Kids at Risk: 'Trouble in Toyland' [Video]

Pete Hegseth to Bring Christmas Back to the Pentagon: Blaze Exclusive

Iryna's Law Needs to Be Replicated Around the Country

Navy Admiral Set to Testify on Capitol Hill About Drug Boat Strike in Caribbean That Killed Survivors

DOJ: University of Delaware Student Allegedly Plotted Attack on Campus Police; Illegal Weapons Recovered

'Unbelievable Revival': God Is Moving with Power in Transnistria Despite Russia's Heavy Hand [Video]