Baby born to 13-year-old Mumbai rape survivor dies

Doctors said that the child is most likely to have suffered internal bleeding, which caused the death.

The baby born on Friday to a 13-year-old rape survivor from Mumbai, whom the Supreme Court had granted permission to abort her 32-week-old foetus, died on Sunday morning.

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The baby, which had respiratory complications and needed mechanical breathing assistance, had spent 48 hours on a ventilator.

Because of the premature birth, the baby which weighed 1.8kg, had smaller organs. A full-term baby - between 39 and 40 weeks - has to be around 2.5kg. “Usually, in premature deliveries, babies’ internal organs are too small and fail to recuperate with the body. This child, too, had smaller lungs and heart, causing respiratory restrictions,” said Dr Ashok Anand, head of gynaecology at the hospital.

Doctors added that the child is most likely to have suffered internal bleeding, which caused the death. “We will have to check the autopsy report to ascertain the exact cause of death,” said one of the doctors from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the hospital.

The hospital had put together a team of five doctors to conduct the surgery.

The teen’s pregnancy came to light on August 9, when her mother took her to a local doctor to understand the cause of her sudden weight gain. The child’s parents then approached a Mumbai doctor who helped them file an application in the Supreme Court asking for permission to terminate the pregnancy. Abortion in India is legal only up to twenty weeks of pregnancy.