Devastated mother whose baby was decapitated in botched birth tells of moment she was allowed to hold the child for the first time

A still of Laura Gallazzi from her BBC interview, in which she relived the horror of her traumatic childbirth
BBC
James Morris27 September 2018

A mother whose baby was decapitated during birth today told how doctors handed her the infant's tiny body so she could say goodbye.

In a harrowing interview with the BBC, Laura Gallazzi described the moment a doctor told her "I've fixed him" after reattaching the baby's head before showing him to her.

Ms Gallazzi was 25 weeks pregnant when her waters broke in March 2014. She was at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

She said today: “I heard something about being only being two to three centimetres. My son's heart rate was dipped but it was there.” The womb in a normal birth would be dilated by 10cm.

Ms Gallazzi was ordered by doctor Vaishnavy Laxman to push, after previously being told she would undergo a caesarean section.

The blue teddy which contains the infant's ashes
BBC

"I crawled up the bed to get away from her. I was pulled back down the bed.

"She's going 'come on, come on, we've got to get this baby out'.

"And I'm saying to her 'I don't feel like I need to push'. I kept on saying to myself: 'This is wrong. Something's not right'."

After attempts to deliver the son, who had already been named Steven, went on for another 20 minutes, Ms Gallazzi said the room "went into absolute chaos."

The tragedy happened at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee
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She said :“I know I felt it. (the moment the baby died) I know I did.”

She continued: “Then the room went into absolute chaos. People were rushing about.

“The next word I heard was 'right push again'. And I'm thinking to myself 'why am I pushing again? I've done it'.”

Ms Gallazzi was then put to sleep. When she woke, she was given the terrible news. She said she “blacked out again” from the grief.

Ms Gallazzi underwent an operation to remove the baby's head from her body. Afterwards, a doctor reattached it.

“The doctor, she was really lovely. She said, 'it's alright'. Her words were 'I've fixed him'."

“I couldn't hold him properly but I was able to look at him, and kiss him and smell him.

In June, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled Dr Laxman was wrong to attempt a vaginal delivery rather than a caesarean section, and that this caused the decapitation. She is reportedly no longer employed at the hospital.

Ms Gallazzi, 34, is now campaigning for a legal identity for stillborn babies, which is what Steven was classified as because he didn’t take a breath.

She said: “Every baby deserves to be classed as a person with a legal persona and therefore entitled to a thorough legal investigation into their death to ensure no criminal acts have taken place.”

More than 2,200 people have signed her petition.

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