CHENNAI: A staff nurse who was delivering the baby of a 26-year-old woman at an Additional Primary Health Centre in Koovathur, Kancheepuram district, removed the head of the baby leaving the torso inside the womb. The woman was later shifted to the Government Chengalpet Medical College Hospital where doctors administered drugs to expel the torso of the baby on Wednesday. The woman is said to be stable.
Dr VK Palani, Deputy Director of Health Services, Saidapet, told Express that Bommi from Koovathur had been rushed to the PHC fully dilated at around 6 am on Wednesday. "A preliminary inquiry conducted by a team of experts has indicated that the foetus had died in the womb at least 12 hours before the woman arrived at the PHC. There are chances of the head snapping off a dead foetus if the body is nearly decayed," he explained.
"The nurse who conducted the delivery has two years of experience and has conducted over 40 deliveries," said a senior health department official.
Doctors at the Government Chengalpet Medical College Hospital said the body of the baby was expelled and for postmortem examination. The mother is said to be stable. Senior gynaecologists said such an incident was unheard of in Tamil Nadu's medical history.
"In my service of over three decades, I have never heard of something like this. If the foetus is decaying in the womb, chances of decapitation are there, so we have always been told to handle cases of intra-uterine deaths carefully," said a senior gynaecologist, who is retired from government service.
It may be noted that a few months ago in Rajasthan, a nurse separated the body of a baby from its head, leaving the head inside the mother's womb.