Dawn
hi valerie, i have a 9 month old boy who was born with 4 out of 5 fingers on his left hand partially amputated. they call it amniotic band syndrome. he was born 06/08/00. since then i have done extensive research on this birth defect to find out what could have possibly gone wrong. at about 8 weeks pregnant i had some bleeding which caused the amniotic sac to weaken. unknowingly, my placenta ruptured in the chorion or amnion area of the placenta resulting in fibrous bands. later on in the pregnacy, i was leaking fluid. since the sac was weakened, it would tear occasionally resulting in a small trickle. the band slipped up into where the fetus was and wrapped around his four fingers. this constricted the blood flow which resulted in a natural amputation of his fingers. he is being seen by a hand specialist by the name of Dr. David Chiu out of Columbia Presbertyrian Hospital In NY. He has had one surgery and in the summer time will have toe to finger transplants so that he can have some fingers to work with. From what the experts say, this birth defect could not have been prevented. Its sad, but could have been worse resulting in amputations of whole limbs, such as a leg or arm and possibly could have resulted in the death of the fetus. so i thank god that he is here! if you have any questions or would like to chat with me, please send me e-mail. I hope that i helped you!!!