A woman has been left traumatised after she gave birth to her decapitated baby’s head while the rest of the newborn’s body was trapped inside her for 24 hours.
Kagiso Kgatla, 19, who was six months pregnant, was horrified when she delivered her baby boy’s severed head during labour. She then reportedly had to wait another 24 hours before the rest of the baby’s body was delivered. Kagiso is planning to sue the Tambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg, South Africa, after accusing doctors of medical negligence.
Kagiso said medics had warned her that her baby was likely to suffer from some abnormalities. But she was still willing to care for the child.
Speaking about the traumatic birth, she told ENCA: “A doctor came and said I should push. I pushed and pushed. Nothing. “He inserted his hands and said I should try again but still there was nothing. He also said he could see the baby’s head. Then he asked for those big spoons. “That’s when my baby’s head came out, but only the head. The body remained inside”.
Hospital officials have reportedly insisted they told the mother that her baby had only a “very small chance” of living. The hospital’s head of obstetrics, Dr Gilbert Anyetei, said: “Normally, when the head is not crowning we assist. We call it assisted delivery. In this particular instance the head popped out on its own and we tried to see if the rest of the body would follow, but the rest of the body didn’t follow.”
