However, the tot, who was born with a rare condition called Sirenomelia, also known as Mermaid Syndrome, at Chittaranjan Deva Sadan Hospital, a government-run hospital in Kolkata, died just four hours after it was born. The baby’s sex could not be indentified due to its underdeveloped pelvis and fused legs.
Doctors say lack of proper nutrition and improper blood circulation from a mother to the baby can create this kind of abnormality.
The rare birth was the second such known case in India and the fifth in the world. Earlier in 2016, a woman from Uttar Pradesh gave birth to the first known 'mermaid baby' of the country, but it survived only for 10 minutes.
“I had never seen such a baby before. It is the first case of Sirenomelia in the state and second in the country,” Dr Sudip Saha, a child specialist at the hospital, was quoted as saying.
Dr Sudip further revealed that the baby’s mother, Muskura Bibi, 23, and her husband are a labouring couple and had not sought proper medication, including a sonogram, during pregnancy due to lack of money.
So, they found out about their baby’s condition only after the birth.
"The baby had a normal formation in upper part of the body but below the waist, its legs were fused together. The lower part was not developed completely," Dr Sudip added.
What is Mermaid Syndrome? What is the cause of it?
Sirenomelia is an extremely rare congenital developmental disorder characterised by anomalies of the lower spine and the lower limbs. Affected infants are born with a partial or complete fusion of the legs.
It is estimated that this condition is found in approximately one out of every 100,000 live births -about as rare as conjoined twins – although the exact incidence is unknown. The condition appears to affect males more often than females by a ratio of 2.7-1.
Researchers do not know the exact cause of sirenomelia. However, they believe that both environmental and genetic factors may play a role in the development of the disorder.
Babies born with the rare disorder are usually fatal within a day or two of their births because of complications associated with abnormal kidney and urinary bladder development and function.
Only a few babies born without fatal kidney and bladder complications are known to have survived beyond birth with this condition.
Tiffany Yorks of Clearwater, Florida, (born on May 7, 1988) was the longest-surviving ‘sirenomelia’ patient to date. She underwent a successful surgery in order to separate her legs before her first birthday. She suffered mobility issues due to her fragile leg bones, and compensated by using crutches or a wheelchair to move around. She passed away on February 24, 2016 at the age of 27.