An under-developed foetus has been detected in the abdomen of a six-day-old girl in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district, with doctors here claiming to be an unusual occurrence.

The newborn girl was brought to a private nursing home in Rajnandgaon town on October 17 by her parents, who are residents of Amlidih village in Dongargaon area, a doctor said on October. "The baby had a swelling in her abdominal area. After her medical examination, she was referred for a sonography test. The sonography revealed that the kid has been suffering from a rare medical condition called 'foetus in foetu'," said Dr Animesh Gandhi, pediatrician and owner of the nursing home. "Foetus in foetu's a condition where an underdeveloped fetus is found in the abdomen of another infant," he added.

The six-day-old girl's condition is absolutely normal and tests have revealed that the underdeveloped embryo was not attached to any of her organs, he said. "The girl has been discharged. We will conduct a surgery to remove the foetus when the child is around 4-5 kgs.
The surgery will be done by Dr Nitin Sharma of Raipur who has earlier conducted such surgery twice," Dr Gandhi informed.

Radiologist Dr Amit Modi, who conducted sonography of the infant, said such a condition is thought to occur in about one in every five lakh births and only 9-10 such cases were reported in the country. "This condition generally happens during pregnancy with twins. One of the foetuses does not grow and can end up being absorbed into the other," Dr Modi added.