Doctors said Wednesday they had successfully performed life-saving surgery on an Indian baby born with hydrocephalus, a rare disorder which caused her head to swell and almost double in size.

A “crucial head reconstruction surgery” was carried out on the skull of 15-month-old Roona Begum at a hospital near New Delhi to reduce the size of her head, which had swelled to a circumference of 94 centimeters (38 inches).

“The surgery went perfectly, much better than expected,” neurosurgeon Sandeep Vaishya told AFP, adding that at least one more round of surgery would be required.

Roona, born to a poor Indian family in the northeastern state of Tripura, suffers from hydrocephalus, a condition that causes cerebrospinal fluid to build up on the brain, making it impossible for her to sit upright or crawl because of the pressure.

The hospital, run by the private Fortis Healthcare group on the outskirts of New Delhi, offered to pay for Roona’s treatment after a heart wrenching photo of her taken by an AFP photographer garnered attention online, arousing outpouring sympathy worldwide and prospective donors to save her.