Premature Baby Found Buried Alive Dies Hours After Being Rescued

A premature baby girl who was found buried alive died hours after being rescued in India on Sunday (May 24).

The baby was rescued by villagers after a man, identified as Manubhai Bhabhor, heard faint cries of a baby during his routine walk on Saturday morning. Startled by the sounds of the infant’s cries, he immediately informed other villagers who gathered in the area to search for the source of the sound and discovered a newborn baby girl in the soil.

“She was so small that we could hold her in our palms,” said Bhabhor.

The infant was immediately rushed to a community healthcare center, where the staff recognized her. She was the firstborn child of a young couple, identified as 22-year-old Hitesh Minama and 20-year-old Manju Minama from Navanagar village.

The couple had visited the healthcare center after the child’s mother complained of excessive pain. On Friday, she gave birth to the infant at 24 weeks. The baby only weighed around 850 grams (1.87 pounds).

The couple buried the infant on their way home believing that she was dead.

“We were scared. She looked lifeless in our hands. The doctors asked us to take her to the private hospital, but she was not moving. We thought we had lost her… My wife was not well and could not look at our baby who was still. So we buried her at this village and then headed home,” said Hitesh.

“The woman had a lot of complications. She was anemic and had hypertension. On Friday, she was in labor and we proceeded with the delivery. The baby was premature, she was more like a fetus. In medical terms when a baby weighs less than 1 kg, we call it abortion rather than delivery,” said Dr. RK Mehta, superintendent of the healthcare center.

She also said the doctors performed CPR on the baby and had referred them to a private hospital as the newborn needed neonatal critical care to survive.

The baby died on Sunday afternoon. According to doctors, the cause of her death was multiple organ failures.

“Generally a baby weighing so less and being born before the seventh month fails to survive beyond three or four days. The chances are very thin. The organs of the baby were immature. Doctors tried to revive her, but could not,” said Dr. Mehta.

It was not known if any action was taken against the couple.