The baby who was found in a garbage container during the early hours of Monday, January 19, was found still attached to the placenta, with a bluish body due to lack of oxygen and in delicate condition, presenting hypothermia, reported Hiram de Jesús Sánchez Gutiérrez, director of the General Hospital Zone 6 of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).
According to information provided by the Municipal Police, a security guard at an agricultural field in the town of Miguel Alemán heard a baby crying and, upon checking inside a garbage container, found it inside a plastic bag.
The director of the IMSS in Miguel Alemán explained that the baby entered the hospital at 05:08 hours this Monday, after being transferred by the same guard, and that the medical staff worked for almost an hour to stabilize him before sending him to the Children’s Hospital of the State of Sonora (HIES).
“At 5:08 in the morning, this is the time he arrived at the emergency room, the patient came from Campo San Luis. With the placenta still attached… the placenta and the baby were still attached, they arrived here and they already gave him an injection and everything,” he explained.
Hiram de Jesús Sánchez indicated that the baby boy is estimated to be between 30 and 32 weeks gestation, which could have been a premature birth.
He specified that the baby arrived in a state of severe hypothermia, with a temperature between 33 and 34 degrees, cyanosis, a purplish coloration due to lack of oxygen, and with immature lungs, presenting a respiratory rate of 100 breaths per minute, when the normal rate is around 20.
“His lungs weren’t fully developed yet, so he needed assistance. He was intubated and placed in a transport crib. When he arrived, he was suffering from hypothermia because he had been exposed to the cold for a long time. He also had respiratory distress; his respiratory rate was over 100. We breathe 20 times per minute, but the baby was breathing 100,” she commented.
The director of the IMSS in Miguel Alemán indicated that the medical team managed to stabilize the baby and, once this was achieved, at 5:51 a.m. he was transferred by ambulance to the HIES to receive intensive care.
Having been abandoned in a garbage container inside a plastic bag, the baby could face the risk of developing an infection and, if he survives, suffer chronic lung damage due to the immaturity of his organs and the time he remained without adequate oxygenation.
Similarly, she warned about the risks that the mother could also face, since having expelled the placenta along with the baby, there is a possibility that placental remains may remain in the uterus, which could lead to serious infections that put her health at risk.
“I don’t know about the mother, she must have passed blood and water. We don’t know her condition, if she’s bleeding, because if some placenta remains inside her, it could get infected or she could continue bleeding,” she commented.
Information was requested from state health authorities regarding the baby’s progress, but they chose not to provide data at this time.
“Given the conditions he was in on the boat and the length of time he may have been there, that’s what tells us how much time passed because those babies get infected and develop something called neonatal sepsis, which is the most likely condition this baby has, and the prognosis is uncertain. He may develop some illness or pulmonary sequelae as he grows,” said Hiram de Jesús Sánchez Gutiérrez, director of General Hospital Zone 6 of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).
