Born alive

"A number of babies have been born alive after only 18 weeks of pregnancy," the Daily Mail reported on 6 August 05 after a study was published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology." Some of the babies who initially survived terminations were only in the 18th week of pregnancy and more than half were under 22 weeks.

"In the 31 cases they studied, babies lived for between five minutes and four hours 6 minutes after the termination. In four cases there were regular breathing movements."

Doctors at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Hope Hospital, Salford had written to the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in February: "We report an infant who survived abortion at approximately 23 weeks' gestation and who survives long-term following many months of neonatal intensive care." The abortion had been attempted at a private clinic. When the mother felt her baby moving she changed her mind.