This baby won’t have problem in counting up to 25 with her digits
29 Nov 2012 11:39 PM GMT
A woman named Malti from the Badarpur gave birth to a baby girl with 13 toes and 12 fingers in the Safdarjung hospital about seven days ago. The parents were caught unaware. They were warned by doctors that they might have twins.
The parents of the baby girl, named Ritika, now consider their child as a lucky charm. According to them though, they had not immediately noticed her uniqueness .
‘We never thought that our baby will have extra fingers and toes’ said Raju, Ritika’s father.
Baby Ritika has been examined by specialists and the doctors described the baby’s condition as ‘polydactyly’. It is a condition when a person has more than five fingers per hand and five toes per foot.
According to ortho specialists, ‘Having an abnormal number of digits (six or more) can occur on its own, without any other symptoms or disease. Polydactyly may be passed down (inherited) in families. This trait involves only one gene that can cause several variations. Polydactyly can also occur with some genetic diseases. But in most cases, this is not caused by a genetic disease.’
Further they believe that extra digits may be poorly developed and attached by a small stalk generally on the little finger side of the hand. Or, they may be well-formed and may even function. Poorly formed digits are usually removed. Either by tying a tight string around the stalk, which can cause it to fall in time if there are no bones in the digit. Or if they are large, a surgery might be needed to remove the extra digits. This condition is normally discovered at birth and evaluated during the newborn’s hospital stay.
Looks like Baby Ritika might have to wait and see. For now, she is healthy. ‘She doesn’t have any other ailments and has no complications because of her fingers,’ the doctors said.
The parents of the baby girl, named Ritika, now consider their child as a lucky charm. According to them though, they had not immediately noticed her uniqueness .
‘We never thought that our baby will have extra fingers and toes’ said Raju, Ritika’s father.
Baby Ritika has been examined by specialists and the doctors described the baby’s condition as ‘polydactyly’. It is a condition when a person has more than five fingers per hand and five toes per foot.
According to ortho specialists, ‘Having an abnormal number of digits (six or more) can occur on its own, without any other symptoms or disease. Polydactyly may be passed down (inherited) in families. This trait involves only one gene that can cause several variations. Polydactyly can also occur with some genetic diseases. But in most cases, this is not caused by a genetic disease.’
Further they believe that extra digits may be poorly developed and attached by a small stalk generally on the little finger side of the hand. Or, they may be well-formed and may even function. Poorly formed digits are usually removed. Either by tying a tight string around the stalk, which can cause it to fall in time if there are no bones in the digit. Or if they are large, a surgery might be needed to remove the extra digits. This condition is normally discovered at birth and evaluated during the newborn’s hospital stay.
Looks like Baby Ritika might have to wait and see. For now, she is healthy. ‘She doesn’t have any other ailments and has no complications because of her fingers,’ the doctors said.
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