Inebriate mother gives birth to baby boy who was 10 times over alcohol limit and two months premature
A newborn baby in Poland was found to have severe levels of alcohol in his system - over 10 times the driving limit - upon his birth, which happened two months prematurely. The primary cause of his condition was due to his mother's drinking habits. The unfortunate incident occurred in south-western Poland, in the town of Krapkowice, on the banks of the Oder River.
Czeslaw Milejski, the doctor who performed the delivery procedure, said: "It was a premature birth in the 31st week of pregnancy.
Reportedly, while the premature infant was born 10 times over the limit, his mother was found to be five times over, according to Metro UK. The mother had apparently been drinking when she was taken to the maternity ward, according to local media outlets.
The mother tried to explain that while watching the World Cup on TV, she had "a glass of wine." At around 2.20 am, she was rushed to the medical center. She gave birth to a baby boy just seven minutes later. However, the baby had to be immediately transferred to the University Hospital in Opole, the capital city of Opole Province, owing to the alarming levels of alcohol in his system.
Fortunately, the infant is now in a stable condition, according to reports. It is unclear if there has been any permanent damage to his health, nonetheless, he's being kept under observation until doctors are completely sure. Due to the high blood concentration in both the mother and her son, the prosecutor's office will establish whether the newborn was unnecessarily put at risk after conducting a thorough investigation.
Having said that, this was the mother's fourth delivery, according to reports. The following day, she reportedly discharged herself from the hospital of her own accord. As of now, the mother is reportedly at home, as authorities conduct the investigation. Due to new local privacy laws in the state, the mother's name has not been released to the press.
If a woman is pregnant and drinks a lot of alcohol during the period, her baby becomes vulnerable to the fetal alcohol syndrome, which causes mental or physical problems at birth due to the presence of alcohol in its system. The alcohol consumed by the mother passes on through the placenta and is concentrated in the fetus.
As the infant's anatomy is unable to process alcohol as well as an adult, it can lead to severe damage to its brain, spinal cord, and other parts of its body. This has the potential to significantly disrupt the development of the fetus in the womb. The legal alcohol limit for drivers is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood in countries such as England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
This is not the first time a baby has been delivered with high alcohol content in the blood. Interestingly, this other case is also from Poland itself. In 2013, IBT reported how doctors were forced into an emergency Caesarean operation on a 24-year-old Polish mother who was reportedly on a drinking binge and had collapsed while buying more liquor. The incident took place at a bar in the town of Tomaszow. Local reports say the infant was born nearly 23 times over the drink-drive alcohol limit.
A hospital spokesman at the time mentioned: "When he came out, his heart was barely beating and he had 4.5g of alcohol in his blood."
In 2005, in Oklahoma, a woman had been arrested on child neglect charges after she gave birth while drunk. Melissa Irene Tanner, 37, of Dewey, Okla., was accused of having a blood alcohol content close to three times the legal limit when she gave birth to a baby girl on June 30. The baby was placed in foster care. The mother told the authorities how she used to be intoicated twice a week during her pregnancy since she did not know she was pregnant. Doctors reports indicated that the child's features and symptoms were common to fetal alcohol syndrome.