Baby Binh An sleeps soundly in the arms of his cancer-stricken mother after being discharged from the hospital

With her husband and eldest daughter, Ms. Lien went from K Hospital to the Central Obstetrics Hospital to pick up 2-month-old baby Binh An. After 55 days of cesarean section in a sitting position due to late-stage cancer, she looked healthy, did not need to use any support machines and walked to the room to pick up her child. This time, Lien's mother came to see Binh An differently than the last time, on June 13. She was calm and smiled happily.

"The last meeting was to fulfill my wish to see my child. This time there is no rush because my child and I will be able to go home together," said the 28-year-old mother.

Baby Binh An was in a stroller, being brought to his mother by the doctors. Unable to wait, Ms. Lien hurriedly walked towards her child. She curled up her arms to hold her child, smiling but her eyes were red. Baby Binh An seemed to feel the warmth of his mother, his mouth also smiled, his round cheeks pressed against his mother's chest. Today, her family was reunited for the first time. The ambulance took Ms. Lien's family back to Ha Nam. The mother will stay with her child for a few days and then ask the child's uncle to take care of her while she returns to the K Hospital to continue her cancer treatment. She has radiation therapy once a week, and has had 6 radiation sessions so far.

Binh An is healthy, weighs 2.4 kg, has gained 900 grams, and no longer needs to take medication except for vitamin and micronutrient supplements. "The baby has been breathing steadily on his own, continuously for 15 days without apnea or cyanosis. The baby can breastfeed, gains weight steadily, has normal newborn reflexes, and visual, hearing, and neurological examinations have shown no abnormalities or pathologies," said Dr. Le Minh Trac, Director of the Neonatal Center, Central Maternity Hospital.

"I don't believe this day will come," Lien said, holding her child tightly in her arms.

Lien's mother said that on May 22, she went into the delivery room with the sole intention of "need the baby to be safe, not the mother." When she opened her eyes after the surgery, the first thought in her mind was "How is Binh An?" "When my husband told me that the baby was okay, I had more motivation to fight," Lien said. Despite having late-stage breast cancer, she still tried to keep the pregnancy so that the baby could be born safely. She named the baby Binh An.

Mr. Tran Danh Cuong, Director of the Central Maternity Hospital, said that the day the doctors came to the hospital to perform a cesarean section on Ms. Lien, they could not have imagined meeting the pregnant woman. "Her condition was so serious, we could only hope to save her. I did not expect to be able to bring Binh An home with Lien's mother today," said Mr. Cuong.

"The day I had the cesarean section, the anesthesiologist whispered to me that we had to do it quickly or else the mother's hemodynamics would change and cause cardiac arrest. On June 13, the first time the mother and child met was already a miracle, and now being able to go home together is a special miracle," Mr. Cuong shared.

Ms. Lien was 4 months pregnant when she discovered she had late-stage breast cancer. She was determined to keep the fetus, enduring the pain and gradual exhaustion so that the baby could be born safely. On the afternoon of May 22, baby boy Do Binh An, 31 weeks pregnant, was born by cesarean section with the support of nearly 20 leading doctors from three hospitals: K, Viet Duc and Central Obstetrics.

The rare surgery was performed because the mother had to sit down because her breast cancer had metastasized to her lungs. If she lay down, she would not be able to breathe. 20 days after giving birth, Lien's mother met her baby for the first time at the Neonatal Center of the Central Obstetrics Hospital. The quick 30-minute meeting fulfilled the wish of the mother with cancer. After the meeting, the health of both mother and child improved.

Finally, the next miracle happened when both mother and child were discharged from the hospital in good health, as Associate Professor Cuong commented: "This is a classic case".