Pioneering womb surgery repairs baby's intestines at 26 weeks
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- Baby Theo was born in February after a successful in-utero repair of complex gastroschisis at 26 weeks — a condition where intestines grow externally because the belly button doesn't develop properly, affecting 1 in 3,000 UK babies annually
- Dr. Michael Belfort at Texas Children's Hospital led the operation, partially exposing Maisie Savage's womb, draining amniotic fluid and replacing it with CO2 gas, then using keyhole surgery to push the organs back inside; Theo was the third baby in the world in this first-of-its-kind clinical trial
- Maisie Savage and Josh French, London teachers, first traveled to Leuven Hospital in Belgium for a Botox injection to relax the abdominal muscles, then flew to Texas for the November surgery
- Even with the highest medical care, 1 in 10 babies with this condition die; complex cases can require up to six months in NICU, multiple surgeries, IV feeding for up to two years, and possible intestinal transplants
- The surgery had zero complications, leaving Maisie with a scar twice the size of a C-section incision, and Theo was carried to term and born by vaginal delivery in Texas
- Paolo de Coppi, professor of paediatric surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said he would perform the procedure in the UK if the trial succeeds, calling the Texas–GOSH partnership 'formidable'
Why it matters: Complex gastroschisis carries a 10% mortality rate and routinely means six months in NICU plus up to two years of IV feeding — this in-utero repair, with zero complications across its first three cases, could redirect those outcomes before birth. If the trial succeeds, GOSH surgeon Paolo de Coppi plans to bring the procedure to the UK, potentially reshaping prenatal care for the roughly 1-in-3,000 UK babies affected each year.
