Mother relives the day her baby was decapitated during birth ( BBC )

Mother relives the day her baby was decapitated during birth ( BBC )

WARNING: Graphic and disturbing content

A HEARTBROKEN mother whose baby was accidentally decapitated during a horror birth has revealed the doctor responsible for her son’s death told her she had “fixed him”.

The tragedy occurred back in 2014 when first-time UK mum Laura Galazzi’s waters broke just 25 weeks into her pregnancy.

The then 30-year-old was rushed to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Scotland where it was discovered her baby son was also in the breach position.

Ms Gallazzi also had a prolapsed cord, and her cervix was only four centimetres dilated - but consultant gynaecologist Dr Vaishnavy Laxman insisted on a natural delivery rather than opting for a C-section.

During the delivery, Ms Gallazzi was urged to push while Dr Laxman applied traction to the baby boy’s leg.

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That pressure caused the decapitation, and while the baby’s body was delivered naturally, Ms Gallazzi had to undergo a Caesarian to remove his head, which was later reattached to the child’s torso before the grieving mum was allowed to see her deceased son, who she named Steven.

In a new interview with BBC Radio Scotland, Ms Gallazzi revealed she was initially told by medics her “baby was OK” before the tragedy occurred.

“They wanted to keep him in my belly for as long as possible because he was in the best possible place - and I was in the hospital so I was in the best place,” she told reporter Kaye Adams.

But soon, the situation turned desperate. Ms Gallazzi’s womb was only partially dilated, and Steven’s heart rate was dropping.

“I was thinking to myself: ‘you have to stay calm, you have to stay calm for your son. You’re in the right place, all these people know what they’re doing. Just trust them’,” she said.

“The doctor said ‘push’ - and I’m thinking to myself no, I’m not in labour, I don’t feel like I need to push.

“...then followed several attempts of her pulling at my son, trying to get him out, which caused me distress, which caused me pain. I crawled up the bed to get away from her. I was pulled back down the bed.”

Ms Gallazzi told the BBC she knew “something’s not right”.

Then, after almost half an hour of medical intervention, the unthinkable happened.

“I felt a pop,” Ms Galazzi said.

“And I felt nothing between my legs, so I thought ‘I’ve done it. I’ve done it. My son’s here’.

“I didn’t hear him crying but I wasn’t too worried about that because I knew he was so small. Then the room went into absolute chaos.”

Ms Gallazzi was then told she was being put to sleep. The next thing she remembers is waking up to the news Steven had died, leaving her “absolutely distraught”.

After being told of the horrific details of her baby’s death, Ms Gallazzi said his head was reattached to his body by medical staff to allow her to say goodbye.

“The next thing I thought was ‘I don’t want to see him, don’t bring him in here’, because I didn’t know what I was going to be looking at,” Ms Gallazzi told the BBC.

“But 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. But it wasn’t the same, it’s not the same as what it should have been.”

Dr Laxman’s career hung in the balance following the tragedy, but the 43-year-old was eventually cleared to return to work by a tribunal earlier this year.

Ms Gallazzi has since launched a Change.org petition to amend Scottish law to allow stillborn babies to be given a legal identity.

According to the petition, Steven was classified as stillborn as he died within the womb without taking a breath.

That meant there could be “no criminal case or fatal accident inquiry.”

It has already attracted thousands of signatures.

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alexis.carey@news.com.au