New Delhi: A team of doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has successfully performed a complex surgery on grape-size heart of foetus and reshaped it inside a mother's womb.

The doctors performed the surgery on the foetus of a 28-year-old pregnant woman who had suffered three miscarriages and was crestfallen when she was informed about the heart condition of the foetus in her womb, doctors at the hospital said.

She was, however, determined to continue with the pregnancy and agreed to allow the doctors carry out the procedure on the foetus' heart.

A team of interventional cardiologists along with doctors from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at AIIMS performed the procedure termed 'balloon dilation' in the obstructed valve of the heart.

The procedure, performed under ultrasound guidance, involved insertion of a needle into the heart of the foetus and unclogging of the obstructed valve using a balloon catheter.

"The whole procedure had to be done very swiftly. It was very challenging. We managed to do it in around one-and-a-half minutes," one of the doctors, who was part of the team, said.

"With this reshaping procedure, hopefully the foetus' heart will develop better. Both the foetus and the mother are stable and are being monitored closely," the doctor added.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the AIIMS team. "I congratulate the team of doctors of @AIIMS_NewDelhi for performing a successful rare procedure on the grape size heart of a fetus in 90 seconds. My prayers for the well-being of the baby and the mother," he tweeted.