Doctors at King’s College Hospital in London carried out the first keyhole operation of its kind in the UK to repair a baby’s spine before birth. The procedure offered the child, Jaxson Sharp, a better chance of retaining lower-limb function than surgery after delivery, although it could not cure his spina bifida.

Jaxson’s mother, Sherrie Sharp, from Horsham, West Sussex, underwent the three-hour operation at 27 weeks’ pregnancy after a 20-week scan identified the spinal defect. Surgeons used three small abdominal incisions to insert a camera and instruments, reposition the spinal cord and close the gap with a patch; Jaxson was born prematurely at 33 weeks and was reported to be recovering well.