"Can we make an artificial womb?" bbc podcast

[NibblyPig]

I shared this on a thread about the baby been born using the transplanted womb of a dead woman, but thought it worth sharing separately. I think this has some seriously scary implications

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswvxh

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswvxh

Thanks, listening now. Very interesting so far. Artificial wombs have been created for lambs born prematurely (with a view to using them for premature human babies) - but we're still a long way off being able to use that technology in humans, because a lot of the lambs died from infection.

Now listening to the bit about trying to make an artificial placenta or a substitute for it. 1 in 5 pregnances fail at the implantation stage and that's one reason for researching the placenta.

Now on to the scarier bit, about trying to keep a womb alive outside a body. The one in the study came from a sheep. They don't seem to have got beyond a couple of days and there was no foetus involved. Innumerable other difficult problems to solve before they could even contemplate doing this with a foetus.

Makes you appreciate what a phenomenal job the female body does. Glad to hear one of the researchers talking about the importance of the bonding between mother and baby which wouldn't happen with an artificial womb.

Now on to discussion of ethical issues and effect of this kind of technology on the status of women in society and their life experience. The ethical expert is worried about coercion of young women to do things like egg freezing, which is already happening, and how use of artificial wombs would also pressure young women into using the science rather than doing things naturally.

Good programme. I am reassured that it seems a very long way off happening.

Fascinating, isn't it? They covered an awful lot of ground for such a short programme. Very glad they covered the ethical side,as well.

Yes, I thought it was really well put together. I should look at the World Service schedules more often. Thanks again!

I may be talking shite here but I think I remember something about babies born to women in a coma haven't done particularly well, due possibly to lack of normal life stimulus. If I remember correctly then how can it be ethical to even consider this except for premature birth?!

Actually scrap my above comment because I've had a quick Google and can't find anything about it, so I must have mis remembered