A woman gave birth to a headless baby at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Pune on Tuesday.
Niloufer Shaikh, 33, a teacher from Mirajgaon in Ahmednagar, gave birth to twins — both females. However, one of the babies did not have a head, heart and a kidney.
Dr Rabin Majumdar, obstetrician and gynaecologist, who was treating Niloufer, told DNA that only the child’s lower limbs were developed. “We had realised there was something wrong with the baby after conducting a sonography,” he said. “But we were not expecting that the child would be delivered without a head. This is extremely unusual and I was shocked to see the child.”
The baby had both her legs, one kidney, one hand, and weighed around 1,500gm at the time of birth, Majumdar said, adding that the other child was healthy and weighs about 3kg.
Revealing the details of the case, Niloufer’s husband Arif said their gynaecologist at Ahmednagar had warned them in the sixth month of her pregnancy that something was wrong and could result in major complications.
“The sonography reports said there were twins, but then in the sixth month we were asked to take Niloufer to Pune for better treatment,” he said.
A fortnight ago, the couple came to the city and met the doctors at KEM. They were again told that something wasn’t right with the babies and it could be dealt with only after their birth.
Arif said the hospital authorities had wanted their child’s body for research purpose, but they declined and performed the last rites in Pune.
Dr Sanjay Gupte, president of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), said: “A baby being delivered without a head is unimaginable. Though not unheard of, it is an extremely rare case .”
