A foetus can only live for one to two minutes - Dr Nji

Dr Ako Simon Nji, a gynaecologist-obstetrician with the Yaounde Central Hospital talks on the importance of antenatal care.

What is the importance of regularly attending antenatal clinic?

Attending antenatal clinic regularly helps in monitoring the health of the mother and foetus to forestall any complications that may come up.

What then are the risks of pregnant women not going for antenatal clinic?

Pregnant women who do not go for antenatal clinic cannot know if their babies are growing well or not. Complications might occur that are life-threatening both to the mother and foetus. If the woman were attending antenatal clinic, such complications could have been discovered earlier and handled. Every pregnant woman is therefore advised to go for antenatal clinic, given the complications that may occur.

What happens to a foetus whose mother dies? What are the chances of survival of such a foetus?

If a pregnant woman dies, the foetus can only live for one to two minutes and then die. This is because the foetus depends on the mother for everything – oxygen, blood flow, etc. When the mother dies, such supplies are immediately cut off. A foetus can’t survive for one minute without oxygen.

Have there been cases in medical history where a foetus survived for some time even after the death of the mother? A case that no one could give a scientific explanation to?

No! no! no! If a pregnant woman is on the table about to undergo caesarian section and suddenly dies, the doctor has a maximum of one minute to extract the foetus and it will survive. This has nothing to do with a miracle. There has never been any case in medical history whereby a foetus survived for more than two minutes in the womb of the dead mother.