Unborn baby has pioneering surgery inside the womb. Now his doctor is waiting to see if it was a success
2026-08-02 from cbc.ca
For some babies diagnosed with gastroschisis in the womb, treatment can mean surgery followed by months of medical appointments afterward. In more complex cases, the birth defect — in which a baby's intestines develop outside the body — can be fatal.
For U.K. mother Maisie Savage, 29, and her unborn baby boy, Theo, however, neither was the case. Theo was diagnosed with gastroschisis, a rare condition affecting about one in 2,200 pregnancies, after Savage's 20-week scan.
Today, doctors in the U.S. say Theo is a healthy five-month-old, thanks to a pioneering surgery performed while he was still in the womb. According to the BBC, the complex operation was part of a groundbreaking clinical trial at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
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