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A newborn baby has survived delivery despite its heart being outside the chest cavity.

The infant's heart was born with its most vital organ exposed and is being treated in the intensive care unit of Shenzhen Children's Hospital in China's Guangdong Province.

The parents knew about the condition before the baby was born, but chose not to abort it.

The unusual and dangerous development was caused by a rare disease - less than five babies in one million are struck by it. The illness affects the child's chest and abdomen.

Less than 200 cases have been recorded and it is the first modern case in China.

Most babies die from the disease before birth.

Doctors are expected to operate to repair the malformation when the infant is strong enough.

In July 2004, Charli Southernwas born prematurely with a similar condition and survived two operations to repair her chest.

And in 2006, Naseem Hasni underwent surgery to put his heart inside his chest hours after being delivered by Caesarean section at Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami.

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Jennifer Sutton, 23, recently visited her own heart at an exhibition in London. Sutton received a heart transplant and her original ticker is on display as part of the Wellcome Collection's educational exhibition The Heart.

As you might imagine, she found the experience very odd and moving. "Seeing my heart for the first time is an emotional and surreal experience. It caused me so much pain and turmoil when it was inside me. Seeing it sitting here is extremely bizarre and very strange. Finally I can see this odd looking lump of muscle that has given me so much upset. It's tremendous it has become an object of fascination and will get people thinking about the disease, heart transplants and organ donation."

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