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THE REUNION - FIRST TEST TUBE BABY |
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Sue MacGregor meets members of the team whose scientific endeavour and medical research led to the birth of Louise Brown - the world's first test tube baby - exactly 25 years ago.
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 Back l-r: Sue MacGregor, John Webster. Front l-r: Noni Fallows, Martin Johnson, Robert Edwards, Muriel Harris |
 Listen again to the programme
Mrs Lesley Brown was wheeled into the operating theatre of an Oldham hospital for a Caesarean section on the night of 25 July 1978. Louise's birth has been described as one of the most important medical advances of the 20th century. Thousands of children have been born as a result of IVF since.
Professor Edwards is reunited with members of the team who assisted in Louise's birth, including two of the nurses, a gynaecologist, and his former research student.
Professor Edwards recalls his many years of research and his determination that he could eventually perfect the technique of IVF and help infertile couples.
He recalls his crucial first meeting with Patrick Steptoe (who died in 1988) and the many years they spent working together until they achieved success. Because Edwards was based in Cambridge, and Steptoe was in Oldham, it involved many journeys across the country as they perfected the technique of collecting eggs from a woman, fertilising them in the laboratory and then replacing them in the woman's body.
Professor Martin Johnson is now Professor of Reproductive Sciences at Cambridge, but in the 1960s he was one of Professor Edwards' PhD students. He worked with him during the early years of research. He recalls the criticism of Professor Edwards' work and the adverse press coverage. He remembers fielding phone calls from journalists and how embattled their team felt, "it was our little group against the world".
John Webster was an obstetrician and gynaecologist who worked with Patrick Steptoe. He talks about the disappointments of the many failures along the way. He remembers the night of the birth itself, when he was assisting Patrick Steptoe with the operation, "it was very exciting - she came out perfectly and cried very quickly."
Muriel Harris was a senior member of the nursing team in Oldham. She too recalls the disappointments, "it was very hard to keep people's spirits up over such a length of time". But she also remembers the camaraderie of the team: Patrick Steptoe would buy the nurses fish and chips when they'd been working long hours. Miss Harris pays tribute to the bravery of the hundreds of patients who volunteered to help with the research and she remembers the team's sense of achievement once Louise had been safely born.
Noni Fallows was another of the nurses in the Oldham team. She vividly remembers the hard work and the frequent disappointments. On one occasion, when they felt they were never going to succeed, Professor Edwards suggested a change in the egg collecting technique. They knew it would be difficult but, as Noni said, "we've tried everything else, it's got to be worth a go!"
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