Baby without arms, legs born in Singida

Dar es Salaam. A rare limbless baby girl was born at Singida Regional Hospital recently, The Citizen has learnt. She is about two months old.

She has been diagnosed with a condition, known scientifically as Tetra-amelia syndrome, which is a genetic disorder, according to Dr Hamad Nyembea, who describes the case as “extremely rare.”

There are a few other known cases of the condition globally, with one case occurring for every 71,000 pregnant women, according to a genetics website, the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man.

In Tanzania, a similar person—a girl—was born about two months ago, according to Singida Regional Hospital Medical Officer in Charge, Dr Ramadhani Kabala. “The child did not have any other health complications, save for the genetic disorder, which is mainly congenital. We will be following up the child through her mother during routine child clinic visits. It is a rare genetic disorder. But in Tanzania, we have a problem with keeping records. So, such a case may have occurred somewhere, but was not recorded. Even then, these cases are extremely rare,” said Dr Kabala. “As far as I know, this case is the first in Singida,” said the medic, who has practised medicine for over the past 13 years.

The child’s mother Zaharia Hamza,30, told this paper that she was being asked questions about the child’s situation.

“At the hospital, where I gave birth in February this year, doctors advised me to nurture my baby like any other child. They insisted that I should report to hospital in case she is sick,” said Ms Hamza, a petty trader from Kibaoni Street in Singida Town. “There are people, who think I consumed some harmful medicine during pregnancy and that’s why the child was born limbless. I believe it’s God’s will,” she said. She explained that she was committed to taking care of her girlchild until she became an adult.

She is her first born child. She told The Citizen that she was a single parent after she parted ways with the partner, who impregnated her.

The doctor, who informed The Citizen about this rare case narrated his experience of how he went to the child’s home after being alerted by people in the neighbourhood in Singida Town that a “strange child” had been born. “I went to see the child at home and she was diagnosed with Tetra-amelia syndrome,” said Dr Sembeya, who is originally from Singida, but is working in Kahama District, Shinyanga Region.

“I was on leave in Singida, but my work station is in Shinyanga Region. As I moved around the town, a person intimated to me about the child,” he said.

“The mother did not have any complications during her pregnancy. She reported to have used iron and folic acid, when she began her clinic, when she was three months pregnant. This is a routine practice. I requested for an antenatal clinic card, but it was not available. So, I couldn’t tell which other clinic services she might have obtained. But I was informed she did not undergo any abdominal ultrasound imaging,” said the doctor as he was analysing the circumstances in which the child was born.

“At a health centre in the region, the medical staff could not understand the way the unborn baby was positioned. So, they referred the case to the regional hospital, where a decision was reached that she needed an operation to deliver,” he said.

“There was no documentation to show what medical services the child has received. But I was only informed she was vaccinated,” he added.

“When I examined the baby, she was clinically stable. That day, I had walked with a thermometer, so, I detected her temperature. It was 37.3 Celsius. The child was pink in colour (normal) and limbless” he said.

“Children born in such condition in this part of the world may not receive the care they deserve. This may be attributed to the poverty situation and cultural beliefs,” he warned. Popular activist and motivational speaker Nick Vujicic is a known global case of Tetra-amelia.