Woman has pioneering womb surgery to fix 'miracle' baby with intestines outside its body
Theo became the first British baby to be operated on in the womb to correct complex gastroschisis, as part of a pioneering clinical trial.
A pioneering womb surgery performed on an unborn baby helped correct a rare birth defect, resulting in a healthy five-month-old baby named Theo. His mother, Maisie Savage from London, underwent the procedure when she was 26 weeks pregnant. Theo was born with gastroschisis, a condition where the intestines grow outside the abdomen due to improper development of the belly button.
Doctors in the US performed the surgery, positioning his mother's womb and gently pushing his organs back inside his abdomen using keyhole surgery. Theo is the third baby worldwide to benefit from this groundbreaking clinical trial. His parents, Josh French and Maisie, expressed their gratitude and relief at the successful outcome.
Gastroschisis affects one in 3,000 UK babies each year, with serious cases requiring intensive care, multiple surgeries, and prolonged nutritional feeding. Theo's parents were initially unaware of his condition until a scan at 20 weeks. They were referred to Texas Children's Hospital for specialized care, where a team of foetal and paediatric surgeons, led by Dr. Michael Belfort, executed the pioneering surgery in November.
Dr. Belfort expressed satisfaction with the results and hopes to offer the procedure in the UK in the near future.
Written by urgent.news from BBC Health's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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