Foetus removed from within newborn boy

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Raipur: In a rare case, an underdeveloped foetus was found in a month-old male child in Chhattisgarh and was removed through surgery, a doctor who carried out the operation said here on Tuesday.

"I was stunned to see what the sonography results were showing, it was clearly indicating an underdeveloped foetus the size of a cricket ball in the stomach of the boy born Oct 12," Ashok Bhattar, director of Raipur-based Bal Gopal Children Hospital, told reporters.

Bhattar, assisted by a team of doctors, removed the foetus from the stomach in a surgery here Nov 13. The foetus had developed eyes and nails to a great extent.

The child was born to Bhileshwari and Tikamchand Sahu at Abhanpur area in Dhamtari district. It had been a normal delivery.

"Since his birth, we were highly worried about his life as a mass of flesh had appeared on his stomach and my son was in pain almost all the time. Since I belong to a poor family I was highly tense, but doctors in Raipur have given my child a new life," said Bhileshwari, 24.

The boy is out of danger and recovering fast.

Bhattar said the condition is called 'foetus-in-foetu', a very rare congenital abnormality where a malformed foetus is included within the body of another foetus.

Bhattar said: "It's a rare incident in medical science but not unheard of. Reports of foetuses in newborns keep coming but it was the first ever incident reported from Chhattisgarh."