Photo of ‘amazing’ first womb transplant baby

Photo: courtesy The Lancet. The identity of the baby and its parents have not been revealed

In a medical first that will give some hope to thousands of women without a functioning womb, doctors in Sweden have confirmed that a pioneering procedure has resulted in the birth of a baby boy from a woman who had a womb transplant.

His parents identities have not been revealed, but the father spoke about their happiness after years of research. “It was a pretty tough journey over the years, but we now have the most amazing baby,” he told PA.

It was breathtaking. I think all of us felt that. It was like having your own child actually, it was the same feeling Liza Johannesson

“He is very, very cute, and he doesn’t even scream; he just murmurs.”

The baby was born in early September and had to be delivered two weeks early by Caesarian section, after the mother, 36, developed pre-eclampsia – a potentially fatal syndrome characterised by high blood pressure. He weighed 3.9lb when he was born, says the Lancet medical journal, – as expected for premature babies – and after ten days in hospital, both mother and baby are doing well at home.

‘Breathtaking’

An estimated one in 5,000 women in the UK are born without a functioning womb, but cancer treatments can also affect the uterus.

The baby’s mother has a genetic condition which means she was born without a womb, although her ovaries were not apparently affected. She received a uterus donated by a close family friend, 61, who had gone through the menopause, and a year later, became pregnant after an embryo was injected into her womb.

Gynaecology surgeon Liza Johannesson said of the birth: “It was breathtaking. I think all of us felt that. It was like having your own child actually, it was the same feeling. No one could really believe it,” she said.

Professor Mats Brannstrom, who performed the Caesarian section, said it was an emotional moment for the whole team.

“When the baby came out by the Caesarian section it screamed almost immediately and that is a good sign that the baby is doing fine and of course that was fantastic happiness among me and the whole team,” he said, “but at the same time it was a little bit of an unreal sensation also, because we, I mean, we really couldn’t believe that we had reached this moment at this stage.”

He said the woman had recovered well from the pre-eclampsia, and could go on to have further babies.