The baby who cheated death by 30 minutes.. Read more

Doctors have battled against the clock to save an unborn baby who was given only 30 minutes to live in her mother's womb.

Medics i realised tiny Imogen Tooke was in trouble only when they carried out a routine scan.

They saw that the child had her umbilical wrapped twice around her neck and her heartbeat was plummeting.

Imogen Tooke

Doctors then faced a race against time to deliver Imogen by an emergency operation before it was too late
. Luckily, they managed to get the baby out with just minutes to spare.

Her relieved mother Melissa, 30, said: 'It is hard to believe that we were just 30 minutes away from losing Imogen.

'It's so lucky that the scan was carried out when it was. If it had been done just half an hour later then it would have been too late to save her.

That scan saved her life. Luckily the doctors spotted that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and they were able to act fast.'

Alistair McKelvey, Consultant Obstetrician, at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, said: 'We were very fortunate to find that at a scheduled fetal ultrasound, that baby Imogen was in distress and we had to perform an immediate caesarian delivery to save her.

'It is thankfully very unusual to encounter this situation at an ultrasound scan.'

Its a miracle