10-Year-Old Mexican Girl Gives Birth After 31-Week Pregnancy
A 10-year-old Mexican girl has given premature birth to a baby boy weighing 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds), Mexican media outlets reported.
The mother was initially admitted to Hospital de la Mujer in Puebla, located about 60 miles southeast of Mexico City, on Oct. 22, suffering from seizures and other medical problems. Surgeons at the hospital delivered the infant by Caesarean section after a 31-week pregnancy.
According to UpFront News, hospital officials have confirmed the birth.
Hospital director Rogelio Gonzalez told The Latin American Herald Tribune that the child is in the neonatal intensive care unit, recovering from pneumonia. The mother, who has since been released, has been breastfeeding the child.
"[She] comes every day with her mother to breastfeed her son every four hours and she is recovering very well from her surgery," Gonzalez said.
The young girl, who is almost 11 years old, is reportedly from the San Francisco Totimehuacan community. According to Gonzalez, the state's minimum age of consent is 12 and abortion is illegal unless the mother was the victim of a sexual assault. As a result, the Puebla state Attorney General's Office has been notified of the birth and is investigating. The agency did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Huffington Post.
Other girls have given birth at that age or younger. In August 2010, an 11-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by her stepfather gave birth after she was denied an abortion because she was in her fourth month of pregnancy, ksee24.com reported.
The youngest mother on record for giving birth is Lina Medina. According to Mid Day, she was five years old when she gave birth to a baby boy in 1939. The father was not positively identified.
In regard to this most recent case, Gonzalez told aciprensa.com he has the "best expectations" for the child's recovery.
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First Posted: 12/07/11 09:31 PM ET Updated: 12/07/11 09:31 PM ET