A 17-year-old Grade 11 girl from Kazembe has survived what many can term a double dose of danger during childbirth after her baby was found choking inside her womb with the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around its neck twice.
The teen mother, who is still recovering at Ng’anga Bilonda Hospital, arrived in agonising pain and was immediately attended to by a team of medics from the Zambia Flying Doctor Service (ZFDS).
It did not take long before Dr Sage Mukoya, the senior medical officer at the facility, noticed something was terribly wrong.
A quick check revealed that the unborn baby was in fatal distress and the mother needed an emergency C-section right away.
“When we opened, we found the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around the baby’s neck twice. There was also a placental abruption,” said Dr Mukoya, describing what could have easily been a fatal moment for both mother and child.
As if one complication was not enough, the placenta had started detaching prematurely, a life-threatening situation known as placental abruption, which limits oxygen and nutrients to the baby.
Despite being born with a dangerously low heart rate and barely breathing, the baby was snatched from the jaws of death by a determined medical team who worked tirelessly to resuscitate the newborn.
Though grateful for the outcome, Dr Mukoya raised concern over the growing number of teenage mothers showing up late for medical care.
“Many young mothers do not attend routine antenatal visits, making it difficult to detect such complications early,” he warned.
Meanwhile, both the mother and her baby girl are said to be recovering well.
By George Musonda
Kalemba July 31, 2025
