Baby of woman who cut womb open died of negligence

The baby of the 28-year-old woman who reportedly performed a cesarian section on herself inside her house in Sta. Mesa, Manila, last week was alive after she was taken out of her mother’s womb, according to the police.

Senior Police Officer 2 Ronald Gallo of the Manila Police District (MPD) homicide section said Monday that based on their initial investigation, the baby girl who weighed two kilograms was born alive but died of neglect soon after.

“After pulling the baby out of her womb, the woman apparently wrapped her daughter in a blanket and hid the newborn beneath her bed where she eventually died,” Gallo told the Inquirer.

Asked if the information would lead to the filing of an infanticide case against the mother, Gallo said that investigators had agreed on a charge of abortion since the baby was prematurely expelled from the womb.

At the same time, investigators said they were looking into the possibility that woman had some help when she cut herself open with a kitchen knife, took her baby out of her abdomen and then tried to sew the cut shut with a needle and thread.

According to the initial police report, the woman, a midwifery graduate who was abandoned by her husband last year, was alone when she performed the C-section on herself—a procedure she carried out without anesthesia.

Gallo said that they found it quite hard to believe that anyone would be capable of mutilating their own body just to get rid of a baby.

So far, the police have been unable to get any information from the woman herself and her relatives.

“They refused to answer questions and referred me to their lawyer,” Gallo said, adding that the woman’s aunt and uncle were initially cooperative with investigators until they were informed that a criminal case may be filed against their relative.

Meanwhile, the woman underwent psychiatric evaluation on Sunday although the results had yet to be released.

Gallo said that they were waiting for the doctor at the hospital where the woman was first taken to submit her statement on the incident before they file a case in the prosecutor’s office.