A baby who grew outside the womb in his mother’s abdomen survived delivery at 27 weeks and five months later is developing well. Billy the Whizz, as they nicknamed him in the English hospital where he was born, was growing on the omentum -- the layers of fat that cover the bowel -- when he was discovered during a routine ultrasound scan of his mother, Jayne Jones. Almost all such babies die within weeks, or even days, of conception and only one similar case has ever been reported in Britain.

Ten days after the scan Mrs Jones was rushed to hospital by her husband Graham because she had collapsed in pain. She had to have a type of surgery that had never been done before in Britain. Billy was born weighing 2lb 2oz on April 19 and put in an incubtor, where he was kept warm inside a plastic bag. According to the hospital, a popular brand of resealable sandwich bags has made more difference to the survival rates of very premature babies than all the expensive technology in intensive care units.

The birth was dangerous for the mother -- Mrs Jones had a one in five chance of dying in childbirth. However, she is very happy with her “miracle baby”, whose slightly misformed head is the only sign of his dramatic start in life. Billy has two older sisters who, no doubt, will lavish attention on him. ~ Telegraph (UK), Sep 1