Nizhny Tagil baby dies an hour after birth
Anastasia only heard her daughter cry and barely had time to glance at her; the child was taken from the room, and an hour later the mother was told the terrible news.
The birth certificate and the death certificate of newborn Sofia bear the same date — 17 July 2026. The girl from Nizhny Tagil (Sverdlovsk Region, Russia) lived for just one hour.
Closer to 9 a.m., Anastasia was placed in the delivery room.
Law enforcement officers are now investigating what caused the tragedy — a combination of circumstances or a medical error — while the parents anxiously await the autopsy results. Here is what preceded the infant«s death.
At the hospital, Anastasia was sent for a caesarean section, but before that they waited several hours, hoping the expectant mother could give birth on her own.
«The baby«s heartbeat was clearly audible»
The baby, as Anastasia saw it, was born healthy — she was pink and cried like ordinary newborns.
Throughout her pregnancy, 34-year-old Anastasia felt well — all tests and ultrasound results were normal. The expectant mother was hardly ever ill and was monitored at the Demidov City Hospital in Nizhny Tagil.
On 17 July, Anastasia«s waters broke; she was in the 39th week of pregnancy. At 05:15 she called an ambulance, but no one came.
«At 07:54 I called the ambulance again. When I asked where the crew was, the dispatcher said: «The car came to the address, but you didn»t open the door and didn«t answer the phone,» even though there were no missed calls, and my husband waited for the doctors outside for three hours and saw no one,» Anastasia told E1.RU.
After that call, the ambulance arrived within literally five minutes. Anastasia was taken to the perinatal center at the Demidov Hospital, and after the paperwork was completed, she was sent to the delivery room.
«The doctor checked the cervix and said the waters were green and the cervix was not ready,» Anastasia continued. «The employee was irritated and spoke to me in raised tones; perhaps her shift was ending. They gave me a CTG (cardiotocography — editor«s note) — the baby»s heartbeat was clearly audible. I was advised to walk, drink plenty of water and wait for the cervix to dilate.»
A few hours later, the expectant mother was put on a drip to stimulate labor — weak contractions began, but by 13:10 the necessary dilation had still not occurred. Nor had it by 15:30.
At 18:00, Anastasia was given epidural anesthesia and the CTG sensors were connected again to monitor the baby«s condition. Fifteen minutes later, after a strong contraction, the baby»s heartbeat disappeared.
«A doctor came in and checked the cervix. She said the dilation was small, and I was urgently taken to the operating room for a caesarean section,» Anastasia said. «In the operating room I was given a second epidural, and I told the doctors that the first anesthesia was still working and that I could not feel the lower part of my body.»
At 19:30, Anastasia gave birth to a girl weighing 3,230 grams; her Apgar scores, which assess the condition of newborns, were 6 and 7.
The baby was named Sofia. She cried as a baby should. The doctors cut the umbilical cord, dressed the newborn and wrapped her in a blanket, then carried her away. It seemed everything was going well.
«About an hour later a doctor came up to me and said my girl had died. After that everything was like a fog…» Anastasia said.
Soon the patient«s husband arrived at the hospital; he signed the papers the doctors gave him and left, unable to look at his dead daughter. On the third day after giving birth, Anastasia was discharged home.
Criminal case
Anastasia sought help from lawyer Yelizaveta Gorodilova. The parents are now awaiting the conclusion with the child«s autopsy results. Preliminarily, the baby died of bacterial pneumonia.
On 31 July 2026, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under the article «Causing death by negligence as a result of a person«s improper performance of their professional duties» (Part 2 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
«I want to get to the bottom of this and hold those responsible accountable. If this really is medical negligence, then let them be punished for my daughter«s death,» Anastasia is convinced.
In response to an official request from the E1.RU editorial team, the Demidov City Hospital could not comment on the situation, since all patient data is covered by medical confidentiality. It cited Part 1 of Article 13 of Federal Law No. 323-FZ of 21 November 2011 «On the Fundamentals of Health Protection of Citizens in the Russian Federation».
The Sverdlovsk Investigative Committee is also not yet commenting on the circumstances of the tragedy.
Read the story of little Sasha Bakhmetev from Nizhny Tagil. At three months old, the baby was found to have multiple cancerous tumors. His parents hope their son can be saved at one of the Israeli clinics.
