Baby boy born with rare condition that left mum fearing the worst

Tom Noble and Faith Richmond were shocked to discover their babyhad lost his left hand in the wombdue to a rare condition known as amniotic band syndrome. This occurswhen the baby kicks through the amniotic sac early in development, leading to bands of tissue forming inside the womb that can entangle the baby.

The couple from County Durham were ecstatic when they found out they were expecting in August 2024, with early scans and genetic testing indicating everything was normal. However, during a private gender scan at 15 weeks, they were given the devastating news that their son no longer had a left hand.

Faith, a 33-year-old hairdresser, told PA Real Life: "It was a massive shock, like an out-of-body experience."

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They were referred to several hospitals before it was confirmed that their baby, Ezra, had lost his hand due to amniotic band syndrome. From then on, Faith had to have weekly scans to monitor the bands and prevent further damage.

Tom, a 30-year-old business development manager, said: "One week they would say he looks good but, by the weekends, we were just preparing for the worst. The waiting was horrible."

At 28 weeks, Faith felt a sense of relief as she was told baby Ezra's chances of survival increased after this point. However, things took a sudden and nerve-wracking turn for the worse.

The bands began wrapping around him and at one point became tangled around his feet and nearly caused him to be delivered at the 30th week. Tom recalled: "The band was getting close to his face but he managed to untangle himself in the time it took for our doctors to consult another doctor.

"Luckily for us, he was an active baby."

In February 2025, Tom decided to do the Great North Run and the couple shared Ezra's condition online. Faith shared: "We felt vulnerable posting it, and I even had messages from people saying their baby has the same condition, and we had so many donations."

At 37 weeks, Faith was induced and baby Ezra was brought into the world in April, 2025. Tom said: "We're just so relieved that he's OK and he was born happy and healthy...he could have had it so much worse, and he's not going to struggle in life, he'll find his own little way."

Faith said: "He had jaundice and needed some incubation treatment, but other than that he was brilliant. He gets X-rays, and they check his back muscles because he's got two loose bones near his elbow. Everything has been fine so far – we keep an eye on him to see if there is an infection where his fingers would be."

Ezra is currently on the waiting list for prosthetics, but "nothing can stop him" even without a second hand according to his mum. In September, Tom completed the Great North Run for Tommy's in approximately one hour and 50 minutes, raising over £3,500.

He explained: "We wanted to raise money and awareness about Tommy's and the condition, really. We also wanted to shout out another charity called LimbBo – they do pop-ups around the country for children and parents... and it'd be nice to support them in the future."

The delighted family have no worries whatsoever about Ezra starting nursery school, though they do harbour some anxieties when he reaches secondary school. Faith revealed: "Kids can be horrible, and we won't be there to protect him.

"I just hope we can teach him well enough to stand up for himself, and I think everyone worries about bullying anyway. By then, I think he could even be the cool one with a robot arm!".

The traumatic experience hasn't deterred Faith from expanding their family either. She said: "It hasn't put me off having more children at all – I think if we have more kids, it might make me realise how hard this pregnancy was."