Life of a 37-week-old fetus was saved at birth by a first-of-its-kind operation performed while the newborn was still connected to the placenta. A few minutes are available for surgeons to extract it from the mother's belly and connect it to the heart-lung machine.
The life-saving procedure, called Exit-to-Ecmo, was performed at the San Pietro Fatebenefratelli Hospital. 4 months later, the child is well and has returned home with his family.