A birthing team in charge of helping a woman in her delivery at a hospital in the north-central Vietnamese of Ha Tinh has been suspended from work after the newborn was almost decapitated during parturition.

The management of Duc Tho District General Hospital said on Tuesday the child was already dead before labor, despite prenatal examination results showing otherwise.

Nguyen Thi Tinh, 37, was 35 weeks pregnant of her fifth child when she was admitted to the infirmary on Sunday morning to prepare for delivery.

She was told her cervix was four centimeters dilated and all other parameters appeared normal as nurses readied her for natural childbirth.

Tinh went into labor at 6:35 pm the same day, but things soon went sour as midwives found that the baby’s head was already out while its torso remained stuck inside the womb.

Dr. Nguyen Minh Duc, head of the hospital’s obstetrics ward, was immediately called into action to perform the delivery.

But Tinh’s family was later informed that it was a botched delivery, with the baby already dead for seven days prior to labor.

The family was also shown photos of the baby with a long wound around its neck that had been stitched together by doctors.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Dr. Duc admitted that the baby’s head was nearly severed when he tried to remove it from the mother with his hands.

The doctor insisted that it was a case of stillbirth, which explained the blisters, signs of cyanosis and shredding of skin seen on the baby’s body.

After being notified of the case, police officers in Duc Tho District have collected statements from those involved, while the team of doctors, midwives and nurses responsible for Tinh’s delivery has been suspended from work for investigation.

On Tuesday, the hospital submitted a report to the provincial health department claiming that the baby had been dead for seven days before birth.

Lack of ultrasound and erroneous examination had resulted in a failure to detect stillbirth before Tinh went into labor, the hospital said in its report.

Ha Tinh's health department has asked that the hospital exempt the mother from all hospital fees, provide the press with accurate information on the incident, and discipline those responsible.

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