A baby girl has been born with an air rifle pellet in her stomach after her father accidentally shot her mother during her pregnancy.
The incident took place in the Russian capital Moscow, with local media saying that the dad had been shooting with an air rifle when a pellet ricocheted and hit his pregnant wife in the stomach.
The woman was in her last month of pregnancy and was rushed to hospital where doctors decided that the safest course of action was to wait until the child was born before attempting to remove the pellet.
They determined that the baby’s vital organs were intact and after she was born, the pellet was removed from just under her skin in her stomach area.
The surgeons then stitched the baby up and said that both the mother and her baby girl were in good health.
Newsflash obtained a statement from the State Budgetary Institution of Healthcare of the Moscow Region dated 25th July saying: “At the Moscow Regional Centre for Maternal and Child Health, neonatal surgeons removed a pellet from a pneumatic weapon from the anterior abdominal wall of a newborn baby.
“The neonatal surgery department (headed by Mikhail Georgievich Rekhviashvili, Ph.D.) received a call about transferring a child with a foreign object – a pellet in the anterior abdominal wall.
“The newborn girl was delivered in satisfactory condition. Upon palpation of the anterior abdominal wall, doctors discovered a subcutaneous mass.
“Upon investigating the circumstances, it was found that at the 30th week of pregnancy, the child’s father was practising shooting targets with a pneumatic weapon in the backyard.
“In a bizarre accident, the pellet ricocheted and hit the child’s mother in the abdomen.
“The parents immediately sought medical assistance.
“An ultrasound was performed – there was no danger to the life and health of the mother and child, and no indications for emergency surgical intervention.
“Therefore, a decision was made for planned delivery at the standard term.
“Neonatal surgeons conducted a comprehensive examination, performed an ultrasound of the abdominal soft tissues, and X-rays, and determined that the pellet was located subcutaneously.”
The head of the neonatal surgery department, Dr Mikhail Georgievich Rekhviashvili, said: “During the examination, my colleagues and I found that the pellet was superficial and did not damage the child’s internal organs, so there was no threat to the child’s life.”
The statement continued: “After the planned delivery and the baby’s birth, a scheduled surgical treatment was carried out – the pellet from the pneumatic weapon was successfully removed.
“The baby immediately returned to the ward with the mother for joint accommodation after the surgery. Once the postoperative wound healed, the happy mother and baby were discharged home in full health.”
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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