A premature baby has received a life-saving windpipe operation while it was still halfway inside its mother's womb.

The operation, which took place at Newcastle-upon-Tyne's Royal Victoria Infirmary in September, involved keeping the baby in suspended labour while doctors unblocked its windpipe.

The baby's mother, Joanne Vasey, aged 17, went into labour when she was only 32 weeks pregnant.

Pre-natal scans had suggested a windpipe blockage.

The baby had also suffered from heart failure earlier in the pregnancy and was feared to have fluid on the lung.

The parents were asked if they wanted to abort, but chose not to.

Doctors say that, if the windpipe had not been cleared, the baby would have died when its umbilical cord, which provides it with oxygen and nutrients, was cut on birth.

'My miracle baby'

Joanne Vasey

Joanne said: "I just can't believe that he is here, with all the medical staff saying he would not survive - it is unbelievable, he is my miracle baby."

A 20-strong medical team carried out the 45-minute operation.

Surgeons cut open the mother's abdomen and pulled the baby halfway out so that it could still breathe through the umbilical cord.

To remove the windpipe blockage, they performed a tracheotomy on the baby, inserting a tube in its neck to clear the airway.

Baby Jaydon was then delivered by Caesarian section and weighed in at 2lbs 13oz.

The hospital says the operation was a success and that the baby, now 13 days old, is doing well.

However, he will have to be kept under observation in the hospital's intensive care unit for at least three months before he can go home.

The procedure used to operate on baby Jaydon was developed by Dr Michael Harrison of the University of California and first performed in 1997.

Called ex-utero intrapartum treatment or EXIT, it was initially used on foetuses with diaphragmatic hernia.

There were fears the hernia could force the contents of the stomach into the foetus' lungs and prevent them from developing properly.

Dr Harrison found that plugging up or clipping the windpipe could stop this from happening, but he had to ensure the windpipe was unblocked at birth to prevent choking.

To give the surgical team more time to clear the windpipe, it was vital they kept the umbilical cord working.