Why might we need artificial wombs?
Researchers hope that artificial wombs will increase the survival chances of extremely premature babies, allowing the babies to develop as if they’re still inside the mother. In 2017, paediatric surgeons at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the US revealed a new technique that involves suspending the foetus in a ‘biobag’ full of synthesised amniotic fluid. They’ve so far tested the device on premature lambs, attaching the animal’s umbilical cord to a gas exchange machine outside the bag that keeps the blood topped up with oxygen and nutrients. Some of the lambs were kept alive up to birth weight, so if the team can make this technology safer, they may be able to adapt it to save human babies.