Christmas home-birth tragedy
A Greek student at an American university secretly gave birth in her bathroom while home on holiday in Athens on Christmas Eve, but the baby died and she ended up in hospital with life-threatening injuries, reports said yesterday. According to the Athens News Agency, the 22-year-old, who is studying in Boston, managed to conceal her advanced pregnancy from her parents when she returned to Greece for Christmas on December 21. She gave birth three days later, in the family house in the prosperous suburb of Kifissia. But her attempt to sever the umbilical cord caused severe hemorrhaging and the baby girl bled to death. The mother, who also suffered a heavy loss of blood, hid the body under her bed before calling an ambulance. But she only admitted what had happened to hospital doctors on Thursday. An autopsy confirmed that the baby died of blood loss. A prosecutor is investigating the case.
