Woman gives birth to a harlequin baby in Nagpur; first case in India

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Zee Media Bureau

Nagpur: In what could be termed as the country's first known case, a 23-year-old woman gave birth to a baby girl with a severe genetic disorder called Harlequin Ichthyosis which mainly affects the skin.

Infants with this condition are born with very hard, thick skin covering most of their bodies and their internal organs visible.

The baby weighing about 1.28kg was born in the wee hours at 12.45am on Saturday at Lata Mangeshkar Medical College and Hospital in Nagpur.

As per reports, the baby was born at a caesarean operation performed by a team of doctors, including Dr Yash Banait, Dr Prachi Dixit, Dr Meenakshi and Dr Nilofar Mujawar.

The baby, which was born pre-term, is completely blind with two bright red bulges in place of eyes. The infant is born without ears and has been kept under observation at the hospital.

Doctors said that these kinds of disorders happen because of mutation in the genes.

The overall incidence of Harlequin ichthyosis is 1 in 300,000 births.

A harlequin baby needs constant care to moisturise and protect the skin. The disorder has been known since 1750, and was first described in the diary of a cleric from Charleston, South Carolina.