The still-born baby that eventually killed the 36-year-old mother in Ruweng. Courtesy

A 35-year old mother has died after giving birth to a deformed child at Pariang Teaching Hospital in Ruweng Administrative Area.

Nyanyuot Maring Yor gave birth – by caesarean section – to a baby with a bloated belly, disfigured head but with normal arms and limbs. It was a still-birth.

According to health experts, birth defects occur when an unborn baby is developing during pregnancy.

“The mother underwent an operation, a cesarean section during delivery, but the baby was already dead. The mother died four days later at Pariang teaching hospital,” said Miakol Makuac, Ruweng Administrative Area’s director-general for information.

Ruweng, an oil-producing area, has often been in the spotlight due to reported widespread environmental pollution -with animals and people affected.

Both local and international campaign groups say women are giving birth to deformed babies and stillbirths, claims the local people have confirmed.

In 2015, a scientific study by a German human rights and relief organization— Sign of Hope said the health of more than 180,000 people in the oil-producing areas was at risk due to drinking water contaminated by crude oil.

These figures do not include those who live in remote areas with no hospitals and roads to connect them with state headquarters.