Newborn baby is the youngest ever to have keyhole surgery

Isabel Dolby from Rayners Park spent the first few weeks of her life in pain, baffling doctors with a hard and swollen stomach. After countless tests she was taken into theatre, where doctors discovered she had appendicitis, joining just 100 recorded cases of babies with the condition.

Doctors at Tooting Hospital in South London used miniaturised technology, including a tiny endoscopic camera to operate on Isabel, who came round safe and well.

“We were extremely worried,” said Isabel’s mum, Candice. “It was two weeks of poking and proding, and nobody knew what was wrong with her. The only option was to take her into surgery and see. I’m so grateful that she’s back to her normal self.”