Beed, May 22: A baby with Sirenomelia, also known as mermaid syndrome, was born in a government hospital in the district today, but died minutes later, doctors said. The newborn, whose legs had fused together to resemble the mythical creature, only lived for about 15 minutes. Sirenomelia is a rare congenital developmental disorder characterised by anomalies of the lower spine and lower limbs. Affected infants are born with a partial or complete fusion of the legs.

"The baby was born at the Swami Ramanand Teerth Rural Government Hospital at Ambajogai. It died 15 minutes later," attending gynaecologist Dr Sanjay Bansode said. The mother, Diksha Kamble (25), was admitted to the hospital today at 7 am. The infant, which weighed 1.8 kg. "The baby was born with a fish-like body and had its hands spread like fins. The upper body was functional but the lower body was not developed. Its gender was unclear due to the fusion of the lower extremities," the doctor said.

The mother is safe, the doctor said, adding Diksha and her husband are labourers engaged in cutting sugarcane. She underwent sonography in the eighth month of her pregnancy but did not take any medicine during her pregnancy, he said. Sirenomelia is a life-threatening illness, marked by the rotation and fusion of a sufferer's legs. The rare congenital deformity causes what looks like a single limb, resembling a fishtail, in the womb.