Case 2 Chicken Baby

One morning, while making my daily rounds at the hospital where I worked. I was at the Pediatrics Ward when the Midwife informed me that I got a call from the DR (Delivery Room), It seems that the Resident on Duty needed some help with something. Also she said that I needed to rushed, for the patient who was on labor had some problem. I ran passing the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), not bothering to change in to scrubs. I as I pushed through the swinging doors of the Sterile Area, I heard my colleague shouting to call me. As entered the DR I saw her face in terror, apparently the patient who was in labor, who was just have been admitted, delivered a baby footling breech (the baby's feet came out first), and when the doctor on duty did't see any head, she thought that it was left inside the mother's uterus, that is why I had a call, because she thought that we have to prepare and refer for an Emergency Ceasarean Section. I saw the lifeless baby in the bassinet, I examined the stump which looked like a neck and found some hair growing from it. I told the Doctor that there is no need to refer the patient because there is no head left inside the mother, the head just didn't develop at all. Looking at the baby it reminded me of the dressed Magnolia Chicken, I guessed we woudn't be eating chicken adobo for awhile. Taking the history of the mother it seems that it was her seventh child already she had a Diarrhea during the first month of her Pregnancy, she didn't took any multivitamins nor prenatal check-up in our Hospital. She even had a huge tummy filled with amniotic fluid which she didn't bother to have a consult. Apparently she was into active labor that night, the bag of water ruptured and gallons of amniotic fluid gushed out. She was being attended to by a traditional "Hilot" and when she wasn't able to deliver the baby she was rushed to our institution.

During my student years I have seen cases of Anecepahaly, this is the conditon in the Central Nervous System where there is failure of the development of the brain or parts of the brain like, cerebrum, cerebellum or the cranial vault. But this was the first time I saw a total non-developed head, not even in my medicine books did I saw such condition. The cause of this defect is unknown but is correlated by not taking Folic Acid supplement. The addition of folic acid to women in child-bearing age seems to lower the incidence. So to all women out there if you are planning of getting pregnant load up with Folic Acid, or simply include green peas, chickpeas, asparagus, brocolli, orange, papaya and ummm...strawberries in your diet. You don't want to have err...a Chicken Baby...tikti-laok!