Recreating the Womb: New Hope for Premature Babies

A new artificial womb-like device may transform care for extremely premature infants: After birth, they would be immersed in lab-made amniotic fluid — and kept underwater for weeks.

In This Video:
0:30 Health Challenges for Very Preterm Babies
2:18 A Research Breakthrough
5:00 Future Vision

When a premature baby is born three or even four months early, it’s immediately clear that they’re not ready to be here yet. Born at a critically low birth weight, the first challenge these very preterm babies face is surviving. Those that do survive face very serious challenges as they grow and develop. Many infants born preterm have severe, long-lasting medical complications or health problems. These premature infants present a real clinical challenge. New research hopes to help these babies who struggle to survive.

In the United States, the number of infants born significantly premature (sometimes called micro preemies) has increased over the past two to three decades. Infant mortality (death) of babies born around 23 to 24 weeks is around 50 percent. For those preterm infants that do survive, the majority will have some sort of illness, often due to lung immaturity. Despite great advances in care and technology, clinicians face great challenges in saving these babies and then helping them overcome health problems as they grow.

Many research studies have explored new ways to care for the preterm infant, with limited success. In the latest research from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, researchers changed their approach to think of a critically premature baby as a fetus, instead of as a newborn baby.

In this video, researchers and clinicians from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia talk about an extra-uterine device that recreates the womb.

The device works by works by two major components. First, a circulatory system that allows the baby to get oxygen through the blood (rather than through the lungs), just like in the womb. This is a process called oxygenation. The other component is a fluid environment – the fetus is enclosed in heavy-duty bag filled with lab-made amniotic fluid.

Researchers Emily Partridge, MD, PhD, and Marcus Davey, PhD; neonatologist Kevin Dysart, MD; and pediatric and fetal surgeon and director of the Center for Fetal Research, Alan Flake, MD, talk about the evolution of this research and their hope to translate this system into a clinical therapy for human babies.

In the future, the team hopes to see the device become an innovative solution used in neonatal intensive care units to support extremely premature infants, such as a 23 or 24 week old baby who is faced with extreme challenges adapting to life outside the uterus.

[Христо-че]

This is an amazing breakthrough, the doctors deserve a nobel price in medicine. What you have done is amazing piece of engineering, it's a miracle, which will save thousands if not millions of lives. If you asking me thats the most important invention this year and in the history of the human kind.

[donnamontanarella]

This is amazing! I pray that this will bridge the gap and save many lives! I am a nurse and a mother who lost 3 of my 6 children. I had a life threatening pregnancy and had to have one child delivered prematurely. Thankfully her lungs were developed enough and she lived. I can't imagine life without her! Losing a child is excruciatingly painful. It would be such a gift if this invention could spare parents and families of such a trauma. I wish everyone would cherish every life from conception to natural death. Don't take life for granted! Don't destroy life! All life is such a gift from God and an absolute blessing!

[butteredlampshade]

I'm premature by 3 months and had 2 near death experiences because of it, Prematurity is nothing to joke about and I'm just glad the kids of this generation have a better chance of living than I did

[piranhaclan]

I was born 9 weeks early. I had 3 seasures and I am extremely lucky to be alive.

[angelavinti]

this brought me to tears. if this works, what a blessing for our babies! praying for the research team, that God will bless your work as you use the gifts He's given you responsibly, for the good of humanity!

[GwinnyMusic]

I wonder how the results would change if a recording of the mothers heartbeat like in a real womb was added in? Would the babies do better, what are the psychological differences with babies kept in an incubator/biobag/womb for weeks 23+ ?

I love learning more about this so if anyone has anything interesting they want to add that they've thought of then type away!

[anonamoose]

Fascinating. I hope this works because it would be amazing for those precious premature babies. They shouldn't be here yet as mentioned, so recreating the womb for them is wonderful.

[nancyfarkas]

Saw something like this on a fictional tv show. Now it seems that that is something that might actually work.

[jennhoff]

Wow! How has this not gone viral? This is incredible! How does the baby receive the nutrients it needs to grow?

[panosvasiliou]

where does the amniotic fluid for this machine comes from?

[mommomlacey]

I'm hoping that these amazing doctors can come across a way to study and prevent stillbirth while studying the growth in the lamb fetus'.

[alidazehnder]

Would be good for tiny preemies but what about mother's contact.

[passionatebraziliangirl.]

Wow congratulations at this life saving project! You came to this earth to make a difference n improve our lives, thank you.

[drra]

This is really interesting !
Can I get the link to the published paper ?

[enzyme]

This will make the pro choice/pro life debate moot. Aborted foetuses will be grown in an artificial womb before being taken out and put into state care. But as already known they have been trying to achieve this for 50 years. So will likely will take another 50 or more years to perfect. I can see the demand being quite high for such a device.

[donnamontanarella]

Thank you to the doctors and everyone who has been working on this invention! I pray that you are successful and that babies can be saved! I am curious to know how you supply the necessary nutrients to the baby while they are in this device. God bless you for trying to save lives! Life is so precious!

[keeganmike]

I was born at eight months after my mother had five miscarriages and the doctors told my mother they would have to do some tests but lucky for me they all came back negative

[snowiitea]

I was born in November but I was supposed to be born in February but I only had some breathing problems

[alanhilton]

Sounds like they're describing an axolotl tank from the Sci-Fi dune.

[lmturmenne]

This sounds really wonderful. I know I've seen many comments on other sites regarding this process that were very negative and degrading the viability, thinking it to be an anti-God or anti-natural device, when in actuality it is very much a pro-God and pro-natural device that merely assists the fetus at a critical time in its development. Even I can see that, and I know nothing about medicine or medical proceedures. I would think the world would welcome this. I believe God Himself would praise the effort of man to help instead of hinder the birthing of a healthy infant ....or even of a lamb. Farmers would love that opportunity as well.