Surgeons save foetus after removing tumour while still in the womb

After a scan at 17 weeks, Tammy Gonzalez said she "could see a bubble" coming out of her baby's mouth.

Doctors said it was a very rare tumour called an oral teratoma and there was almost no hope her daughter would live, but five month after the pioneering operation, baby Leyna was born.

During the procedure, Mrs Gonzalez was put under a local anaesthetic as a needle was pushed through the protective amniotic sac around the foetus.

A laser was then used to cut the tumour from Leyna's lips. It was all over in an hour and the only sign of the surgery is a tiny scar on Leyna’s mouth.

Gonzalez told a press conference in Miami: "When they finally severed the whole thing off and I could see it floating down, it was like this huge weight had been lifted off me and I could finally see her face."

The details have only just emerged after the operation was reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.