Woman charged for killing her unborn child

A woman in Alabama has been charged with manslaughter because authorities believe she severed the umbilical cord of her 26 to 30-week-old unborn child.

The fetus was dead when it was delivered at the hospital, Tyler said, adding hospital personnel de­termined the umbilical cord had been separated while the fetus was still in Johnson's uterus....

A condition sometimes occurs called umbilical cord prolapse, when at least part of the cord emerges from the birth canal while the fetus remains in the womb. Medical literature states the condition can occur during a premature birth after the amniotic fluid is released....

"Though under normal circum­stances the members of our police department would be sensitive to the needs of a mother who recently lost her baby, our investigators simply could not ignore or over­look the evidence in this case," Tyler said in an earlier statement.