Woman bears limbless baby
A woman in Namilo village in Busakira sub-county, Mayuge district gave birth to a baby without limbs.
By Betty Angatai
A woman in Namilo village in Busakira sub-county, Mayuge district gave birth to a baby without limbs.
Fatuma Wonaira, 28, a mother of three, delivered a baby girl without hands and legs in Mayuge Health Centre last week.
The baby and the mother were immediately referred to St. Francis Hospital Buluba in Mayuge.
The medical superintendent, Dr. Godfrey Zziwa, told journalists on Monday that the baby had been discharged because a medical examination revealed that apart from the deformity, it was not sick.
“The baby will grow up like any other child,†he said.
He attributed the deformity to either drug abuse during the early stages of pregnancy or untreated syphillis.
Zziwa said excessive drinking, smoking and taking tetracycline capsules and septrine tablets during the early stages of pregnancy could have led to the malformation of the baby.
He also blamed the African cultural norms that are against women revealing their pregnancy in the early stages.
Zziwa explained that ignorance and such tradditions make the early detection of deformities in babies difficult.
“Most mothers in rural communities are ignorant. They do not realise they are pregnant till six months,†he said.
The hospital head of orthopedics, Lawrence Angatai, said relatives of children with such cases had been getting artificial limbs, adding that it was the fourth of its kind reported in the last three years.
He said children can be given artificial limbs once they attain 12 years of age to enable them lead a normal life.
A woman in Namilo village in Busakira sub-county, Mayuge district gave birth to a baby without limbs.
Fatuma Wonaira, 28, a mother of three, delivered a baby girl without hands and legs in Mayuge Health Centre last week.
The baby and the mother were immediately referred to St. Francis Hospital Buluba in Mayuge.
The medical superintendent, Dr. Godfrey Zziwa, told journalists on Monday that the baby had been discharged because a medical examination revealed that apart from the deformity, it was not sick.
“The baby will grow up like any other child,†he said.
He attributed the deformity to either drug abuse during the early stages of pregnancy or untreated syphillis.
Zziwa said excessive drinking, smoking and taking tetracycline capsules and septrine tablets during the early stages of pregnancy could have led to the malformation of the baby.
He also blamed the African cultural norms that are against women revealing their pregnancy in the early stages.
Zziwa explained that ignorance and such tradditions make the early detection of deformities in babies difficult.
“Most mothers in rural communities are ignorant. They do not realise they are pregnant till six months,†he said.
The hospital head of orthopedics, Lawrence Angatai, said relatives of children with such cases had been getting artificial limbs, adding that it was the fourth of its kind reported in the last three years.
He said children can be given artificial limbs once they attain 12 years of age to enable them lead a normal life.