A British mother gave birth to a living, late-term baby boy in a toilet last fall after medical workers gave her abortion drugs without determining how far along she was in her pregnancy, investigators said this week.
The Leicester Mercury reports the baby, Ronnie, died four days later from brain damage, according to the local coroner.
On Monday, British officials conducted an inquest into the matter, hearing from independent medical experts and the coroner who investigated the baby’s death.
According to the report, an East Yorkshire woman went to York Hospital last October, seeking an abortion. She believed she was 12 weeks pregnant, and staff apparently took her word for it and gave her the abortion drug mifepristone, which is only recommended up to 10 to 12 weeks of pregnancy, the inquest found.
The hospital staff either did not do an ultrasound scan or did not perform one correctly, because the woman was really 30 weeks pregnant, investigators told the inquest Monday, according to Yorkshire Live.
On Oct. 26, 2021, the woman gave birth to her son in a toilet in the hospital, the inquest found. As soon as the hospital staff realized that the baby was alive, they resuscitated him and transported him to the Jessop Wing maternity hospital in Sheffield; however, he died four days later, Yorkshire Live reports.
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Here’s more from the Mercury:
He had suffered a number of problems, including multiple organ failure, and was seriously unwell. Ronnie was placed on a ventilator and received maximum life support care. …
Senior coroner Professor Paul Marks praised the staff who acted quickly to try and save Ronnie. He said they should be “commended for this”. He said that had the true length of pregnancy been identified correctly and if the baby had been born in an appropriate setting he would probably have survived.
Premature babies born at 30 weeks have a 95 percent chance of surviving if they receive appropriate care, according to the report.
Jacqui Evans, an independent medical practitioner who investigated the case, told the inquest that the hospital had an increased number of patients that day and staff had “too much to do.”
Her testimony also suggested that if the hospital staff had properly assessed the mother and determined how far along she was in her pregnancy, the baby boy may have survived.
England limits abortions after 24 weeks, and it is not clear if the abortion itself also may have been illegal, given how far along the mother was.
Babies do survive abortions, though no one is sure exactly how many. In America, most states do not keep track of abortion survivors, but a few do.
Between 2016 and 2018, three states reported 40 babies were born alive after botched abortions. According to the state health data, 11 babies were born alive in Minnesota, 10 in Arizona and 19 in Florida. Texas reported six babies were born alive in botched abortions in 2019. In Michigan, state health reports from 2008 through 2013 indicate that 11 babies were born alive after abortions.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, as well as the personal testimonies of nurses and abortion survivors themselves, also provide evidence that babies survive abortions. According to the CDC, at least 143 babies were born alive after botched abortions between 2003 and 2014 in the U.S., though there likely are more.
Studies and health data from Canada and Australia also have found that hundreds of babies have been born alive in botched abortions in their countries.
