Newborn dies from rare meconium inhalation
Baby develops severe respiratory distress from damage to her respiratory system.
A PREMATURE BABY born in an Israeli hospital Photo: Courtesy Forum for Premature Babies
A newborn baby girl died last week at Hadassah University Medical Center in
Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem neighborhood from a rare complication involving her
inhaling meconium – fetal stools mixed with her placental
Immediately after the hospital obstetrics team delivered her, they
noted that while in the womb, she had taken a large amount of meconium and fluid
into her lungs. As a result, the baby developed severe respiratory distress from
damage to her respiratory system.
They struggled to save her life, but
she died an hour after she was born.
According to Hadassah, infants are
born with meconium aspiration syndrome in 15 percent of all deliveries, but in
the vast majority of cases, the doctors can save the baby from the serious
The death rate is one or two per 1,000 live
Hadassah informed the Health Ministry of the tragedy and
expressed its consolations to the family.
Meconium is normally stored in
the infant’s intestines until after birth, but sometimes it is expelled into the
amniotic fluid during labor, before delivery.
If the baby then inhales
the contaminated fluid, respiratory problems may occur. When the fetus passes
meconium to the amniotic fluid while still inside the uterus, it is usually when
babies are “under stress” because their supply of blood and oxygen decreases,
often due to problems with the placenta.
The clearest sign that meconium
has been passed during or before labor is the greenish or yellowish color of the
amniotic fluid. The infant’s skin, umbilical cord, or nailbeds may be stained
green if the meconium was passed a considerable amount of time before birth.
After the baby is born, the problem shows up as rapid or labored breathing, the
baby turning blue, a slow heartbeat, and abnormal sounds in the lungs.