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 Mr Lawrence Mascarenhas"We only discovered the situation during the birth"  real 28k The BBC's Linda Duffin"Both mother and child were lucky to survive"  real 28k |
Bowel baby born safely
The scan failed to reveal the baby's position
A baby girl has been born after developing outside her mother's womb in the lining of the bowel.
Doctors did not know that the pregnancy was ectopic until the day of delivery.
The child had a 95% chance of dying before delivery and the mother had a 10% chance of death.
The mother, 42, required an extensive blood transfusion after the baby was delivered by Caesarian Section.
However, both mother - who had been told by her GP that she would never have a baby - and child are now doing well.
Doctors did not know that the pregnancy was ectopic until the day of delivery.
The child had a 95% chance of dying before delivery and the mother had a 10% chance of death.
The mother, 42, required an extensive blood transfusion after the baby was delivered by Caesarian Section.
However, both mother - who had been told by her GP that she would never have a baby - and child are now doing well.
We did not know until the day of section that this baby was outside the womb. It was an absolute shock  |
Mr Lawrence Mascarenhas, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham
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The baby was delivered at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham by surgeon Lawrence Mascarenhas.
He said: "We did not know until the day of section that this baby was outside the womb. It was an absolute shock."
Doctors thought that an abnormality on the scan was fibroid, or benign tumour, growing on the woman's cervix. In fact, it was the woman's unused womb.
The embryo had implanted in a layer of fat covering the lining of the bowel called the omentum, from which it was able to draw its nutrition.
However, this meant that the medical team had to negotiate the tricky procedure of separating the afterbirth from the layer of fat.
Mr Mascarenhas said: "The mother was awake for the delivery but we then had to put her under and call a bowel surgeon in and the two of us removed the afterbirth."
He admitted that it was only decided to deliver the infant by Caesarean because it had not fully turned and was lying across its mother.
Mr Mascarenhas said such a pregnancy, known as an abdominal ectopic pregnancy, occured in one in 10,000 births.
"The baby was absolutely fine from the moment of birth, and has not required intensive care. We are all delighted."
He said: "We did not know until the day of section that this baby was outside the womb. It was an absolute shock."
Doctors thought that an abnormality on the scan was fibroid, or benign tumour, growing on the woman's cervix. In fact, it was the woman's unused womb.
The embryo had implanted in a layer of fat covering the lining of the bowel called the omentum, from which it was able to draw its nutrition.
 Mr Lawrence Mascarenhas carried out the surgery
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Mr Mascarenhas said: "The mother was awake for the delivery but we then had to put her under and call a bowel surgeon in and the two of us removed the afterbirth."
He admitted that it was only decided to deliver the infant by Caesarean because it had not fully turned and was lying across its mother.
Mr Mascarenhas said such a pregnancy, known as an abdominal ectopic pregnancy, occured in one in 10,000 births.
"The baby was absolutely fine from the moment of birth, and has not required intensive care. We are all delighted."
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