Baby lambs survive for weeks in artificial womb in promising sign for preemies

An artificial womb kept a premature lamb alive for months.

(Image credit: Screenshot/STAT)

published 25 April 2017

Scientists have managed to keep prematurely born baby sheep alive for four weeks in an "artificial womb" known as a "biobag." The womb, which STAT described as a "plastic bag filled with fluid to mimic the conditions of the inside of the uterus," is being developed and tested with the hope of eventually being used to help keep prematurely born human babies alive.

Currently, infants born before 24 weeks into a pregnancy only have about a 50 percent chance of survival, and the technology used to keep them alive can cause damage. The Atlantic reported as many as 30,000 American babies are born annually before they're 26 weeks.