Pregnant H7N9 bird flu woman gives birth

A pregnant woman who was infected with H7N9 bird flu gave birth to a baby girl at Zhenjiang No. 1 People's Hospital in Jiangsu province on July 17, 2013.  [Photo/Xinhua]

Nanjing - The world's first pregnant woman infected with H7N9 bird flu gave birth to a heathy girl on Wednesday afternoon in a hospital in Zhenjiang City, east China's Jiangsu Province.

The 25 year old surnamed Qiu was five months pregnant when she was diagnosed with H7N9 on April 8. She was admitted to the intensive care unit in Zhenjiang No. 1 People's Hospital.

She came around on April 21 and recovered in May.

Qiu received a Cesarean section on Wednesday afternoon and gave birth to a baby girl weighing 3.3 kg, according to doctors with hospital.

Gu Shaoqing, head of the paediatric department, said Qiu's expected date of childbirth had been set for July 26. However, doctors monitored an acceleration in the fetal heart beat, and decided to carry out the operation on Wednesday.

They said Qiu's cardiopulmonary function still needs time for recovery. The hospital will continue to monitor the health of the mother and baby.

A total of 132 H7N9 avian flu cases have been reported on the Chinese mainland, including 43 that have ended in death, since the virus was first discovered in March, according to updates released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission on July 10.

The spread of the disease has been brought under control, as there was only one new case reported in Jiangsu Province last month and the patient has recovered, according to the commission's updates.