The world's first test-tube baby, a girl, was born by caesarian section just before midnight at Oldham and District General Hospital, Greater Manchester. She weighed 5lb 12oz.
Mr Patrick Steptoe, the consultant gynaecologist who has pioneered test-tube baby research and who is in charge of the case said: "All examinations showed that the baby is quite normal. The mother's condition after delivery was also excellent."
The mother, Mrs Lesley Brown, aged 29, from Bristol, was "enjoying a well earned sleep".
The embryo was implanted in Mrs Brown's womb after being fertilized in Mr Steptoe's laboratories last November. He used sperm from her husband, a railway van driver, aged 38, who has a son from a previous marriage.
By that technique Mr Steptoe was able to by-pass Mrs Brown's blocked fallopian tubes.
The child's financial future was assured after newspaper rights to articles and photographs were sold by Dutch auction to Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail and London Evening News. They are believed to have paid more than ú300,000.
More than 5,000 couples have sought help for infertility since the work of Mr Steptoe and Dr Robert Edwards, his partner, was first reported.
