// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Woman has pioneering womb surgery to fix 'miracle' baby with intestines outside its body
Baby Theo was operated on while still in Maisie Savage's womb
Doctors have used ground-breaking surgery on an unborn baby to successfully correct a birth defect while he was still inside the womb.
His mother, Maisie Savage, from London, was operated on by doctors in the US while she was 26 weeks pregnant.
Baby Theo, who is now five months old and thriving, had gastroschisis, where the belly button does not develop properly, causing the intestines to grow externally.
Doctors partially exposed his mother's womb and then gently pushed his organs back inside his abdomen using keyhole surgery.
He was the third baby in the world to benefit from the first-of-its-kind clinical trial.
Meet Theo: Baby who underwent pioneering surgery for birth defect while in womb
Maisie, 29, and Theo's father, Josh French, 36, both teachers, say they are incredibly relieved by the success of the pioneering surgery.
"He's a little miracle, isn't he?" Maisie told BBC News.
But they both know things could have been very different.