UK woman undergoes fetal surgery for baby's intestinal defect

Theo, now five months old, underwent foetal surgery for complex gastroschisis while in his mother Maisie Savage's womb at 26 weeks pregnant.

The procedure, performed at Texas Children's Hospital by Dr Michael Belfort, used keyhole instruments to return the baby's intestines into the abdomen and close the opening.

Maisie Savage and Josh French were referred to the ongoing clinical trial in Houston after diagnosis at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and a Botox procedure at Leuven Hospital in Belgium.

Theo became the third baby in the world to receive the experimental treatment; surgery was performed in November last year, and Theo was born vaginally in February.

Gastroschisis affects about one in every 3,000 babies in the UK, and severe cases often require months of intensive care and multiple operations.