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Medical students cut baby's penis by mistake

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The arrival of their son was supposed to be a joyful occasion.

Instead, Diego Rangel Izaguirre and Zulem Contreras were appalled when they realised that medical students at a hospital in the north-eastern Mexican city of Saltillo had accidentally cut their newborn's penis while removing his umbilical cord.

To make matters worse, Mr Izaguirre claimed staff tried to cover up the incident by telling him that there had been a "minor accident".

The father suspected something was wrong when he had to wait more than two hours to see his newborn son.

He later learnt that the students involved had mistaken the baby's penis for the umbilical cord.

Even though the baby underwent further surgery to repair the damage, the couple alleged that a surgeon aggravated the injury.

Almost 2cm-deep injuries

Mr Izaguirre said: "When my child was born and they cut his umbilical cord, they injured his penis.

"And unfortunately when the surgeon started sewing it, he made other two new injuries, almost two centimetres deep."

Ms Contreras added: "This shouldn’t have happened, they should have assigned a gynaecologist to take care of him, not students."

The hospital has since come out to deny initial media reports saying that the boy's genitals "were cut".

It claimed the parents were kept informed and that their consent was sought for the minor procedure.

A spokesman said:

"During the cut of the umbilical cord, the (foreskin) was accidentally injured and repaired through the usual circumcision process that was consented by the parents.

"The Regional Delegation rejects the versions spread by media according to which the genitals of a newborn 'were cut' in the General Hospital No.1. "

Mexican officials are backing the hospital, which is investigating the incident.

Sources: The Sun, Mail Online, Mirror Online

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