Doctors at Hammersmith hospital have performed the UK’s first organ donation from a baby in a medical milestone that could see more newborns become donors.

Staff at the hospital in west London praised the parents for their “extraordinary generosity” in consenting to the donation, which allowed two patients to receive tissues from the child, who died soon after birth.

The doctors now hope to see other baby units offering the service, which they said gave comfort to grieving families and had the potential to transform the lives of others.

The baby girl suffered severe oxygen starvation and massive brain damage in the womb that left her completely unresponsive and unable to move when she was delivered at term by emergency caesarean. When it became clear the girl would not survive, doctors and specialist nurses discussed organ donation with her parents. After they gave consent, the team drew up a plan with the family to remove her healthy kidneys and some liver cells. The operation went ahead when the girl’s heart stopped six days after she was born.

“It’s a milestone because it gives hope to the family,” said Gaurav Atreja, a consultant neonatologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He said that for many parents, the option to donate organs from their child meant some good could come from the loss of their child.

“If I put myself in the same situation, donation gives me hope, something to hold onto, that a part of my child is still living somewhere and making a difference to someone else’s life,” he said.

Doctors transplanted the girl’s kidneys into a patient whose own had failed, while her liver cells were transfused into a second patient. The latter procedure is often done to buy time for people who are awaiting a full liver transplant. Many organs and tissues from newborns can be donated to adults as well as other babies.

A large proportion of babies who die in intensive care units could be organ donors, but UK guidelines make it difficult for doctors to identify suitable candidates.

In children who are more than two months old, doctors can use a series of neurological tests, including the reaction of their pupils to bright light, to confirm brain stem death. If a child is pronounced dead this way, their organs can be saved for donation by using a ventilator to keep their blood circulating.

But existing UK guidelines do not allow doctors to use the same neurological tests on children younger than two months. Instead, doctors must wait some time after the child’s heart has stopped. That makes donation difficult, because organs deteriorate when their blood supply is cut off.

The Hammersmith team arranged for an organ retrieval team to be on hand to remove the girl’s organs and preserve them before they suffered damage. The case is reported in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) will publish new guidelines in the next few months that are expected to approve neurological tests for determining the deaths of newborns. When the guidelines appear, doctors at Hammersmith plan to draw up a formal procedure for neonatal units around the country to follow when they have similar baby donor cases.

Neil McIntosh, who chairs the RCPCH working group that is reviewing the guidelines said that doctors in Canada, Spain, Australia and some US states already use neurological tests to confirm baby deaths. “The stupidity is that it’s been possible to use organs from newborn babies shipped in from Spain or the continent for donation, but we can‘t use organs from babies who die in this country.”

Joe Brierley, a consultant intensivist at Great Ormond Street children’s hospital, said that in most neonatal units, one or two babies who die each year may be suitable organ donors.

“This is about giving the parents of a dying baby choices and their choice to help someone else is a fantastic gift for other parents. It won’t be right for some, but it will be for others,” he said. “Something good can come from the tragedy.”

James Neuberger, associate medical director for organ donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said:“We are pleased that the first transplant of organs from a newborn in the UK was a success and we also praise the brave decision of the family to donate their baby’s organs.

“Agreeing to donate happens at a heartbreaking time in a family’s life and our thoughts go out to all families that find themselves in this position.

“The sad reality is that for everybody to get the lifesaving transplant they are desperately in need of, more families who are facing the tragic loss of their young child will need to agree to donation.

“There are currently 194 young people under the age of 18 waiting for a transplant, of whom 15 are babies or infants under two years old. For young babies in need of a transplant, the size of the donated organ will be a major factor to determine whether they can have the lifesaving operation or not.”