Brazil officials investigate death of baby whose head was ripped off during birth

A Brazilian hospital has initiated an internal investigation into members of its staff that participated in the tragic delivery of a baby girl who had her head ripped off by one of the doctors.

The Minas Gerais Civil Police also announced that investigators will probe 'whether there was a medical error or negligence' behind the May 1 emergency procedure that took place at the Hospital das Clínicas of the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte.

Ranielly Santos, 34, went into induced labor when the doctor performing the emergency C-section delivery jumped on top of her body and decapitated Emanuelly da Silva's head as she was coming out of the womb.

'At the time of the incident, the fetus was 30 weeks pregnant, and the Fetal Medicine team had previously found malformations, including severe pulmonary malformations,' the hospital administration said in a statement Monday.

The hospital said Santos was hospitalized as a result of high blood pressure and the accumulation of fluid in her entire body.

'Due to the seriousness of the maternal condition and fetal inviability, the medical staff opted for induction of labor,' Hospital das Clínicas indicated.

Victor da Silva (left) and his wife, Ranielly Santos (right), are seeking justice from Hospital das Clínicas of the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, after a doctor jumped on top of her and accidentally decapitated her newborn daughter during a C-section delivery on May 1. The hospital announced Monday that a probe was initiated 

Administrators at Hospital da Clinicas is looking into the May 1 C-section delivery that ended with a newborn's head being ripped off by one of the doctors

'The Hospital das Clínicas of (the Federal University of Minas Gerais) reaffirms that the team made every effort to guarantee the life of the pregnant woman and that it is committed to clarifying all the facts with transparency and agility. The hospital unit sympathizes with the family in this time of mourning and remains at the entire disposal of the family and the authorities.'

The body of Emanuelly da Silva was transferred to the Minas Gerais Civil Police's Legal Medical Institute for an autopsy.

Family lawyer Jennifer Valente said that results are expected to be released at the end of this week, Brazilian news outlet G1 reported.

Santos' family came forward with news of the shocking incident Sunday as they sought answers from the hospital and justice from authorities.

Ranielly Santos says doctors at Hospital das Clinicas treated her like 'an animal' during the delivery of her daughter, Emanuelly da Silva, which ended with the newborn's head being 'ripped off' by one of the doctors

Santos, who has a 9-year-old daughter, told news outlet R7 that she was 'treated like an animal' by the same staff who tried to prevent her mother from removing a cover that was placed over her newborn before discovering that her neck had at least 60 stitches.

'My mother saw the whole procedure,' she said. 'She opened the outfit, but they tried to stop my mother from opening the outfit, that's when we saw that her neck was sewn, full of marks.'

The family told police that a hospital social worker approached them several hours following the baby's death and said that the facility would cover the funeral costs.

The parents alleged the hospital wanted them to sign a document that indicated an autopsy had been done. In addition, the document showed their daughter's body had been checked and that it was not going to me sent to the Civil Police's medical examiner.

Her husband, Victor da Silva, remembers looking at his daughter as she blinked her eyes before the doctor jumped on top of Santos' body and then decapitated the baby's head.

'By the time they pulled her, out she blinked, she was moving,' he said. 'Her little heart, before leaving, was beating.'

Da Silva said the doctors were pulling the child's head and instructed Santos to push.

'But she had no more strength,' he said. 'At the last moment they did that, a bunch of people came on top of her, held, held me. (They placed) a general anesthesia on her, she fainted, the child left (died), she was already fainting.'