Baby Hermlata has ectopia cordis, a rare congenital heart disease that affects 8 in 1,000,000 babies.
An extremely rare condition caused this baby girl to be born with her heart beating outside her chest.
Read: Baby Born With Heart Outside Chest Now Doing Well, Despite Grim Outlook
Baby Hermlata has ectopia cordis, a rare congenital heart disease that affects 8 in 1,000,000 babies, and her mom was shocked to see her heart had developed outside of her body when she gave birth naturally in central India last week.
"The heart is [normally] covered by bones and skin in the human body, but in this case though, her heart was formed completely during embryonic development, the body wall could not mature properly,” the hospital’s childcare specialist, Dr. Chaurasiya, told Caters News.
Mother Prem Kumari, 22, and father Arvind Patel, 24, said they had no idea their daughter would have this condition before Hermlata was born, and are now devastated by their daughter's medical outlook.
"After my marriage to Prem Kumari, all my family was happy when we were having our first child,” said Patel, who works as a security guard. "The doctor referred us to a district hospital but the doctors there told us that for treatment we have to take the child outside and her treatment will be very expensive. We had no money."
The family qualified for financial assistant under a government program and newborn Hermlata will now be treated at All India Institute for Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
Read: 2 Miracle Girls Born With Their Hearts Outside Their Chests Meet for First Time
"I am hopeful that my daughter would now get a life-saving operation and live a healthy life," Patel added.
Meanwhile, in North Dakota, baby Kieran Vietz, who was born in April 2015 with his heart outside his chest, is now doing well after a series of life-changing surgeries.
Four-year-old Audrina Cardenas, of Texas, and 7-year-old Virsaviya Borun, of Florida, were also dubbed miracle cases of survival, despite having their hearts born outside of their chests too.
Watch: Woman, 48, Takes Home Her Old Heart in a Bag After Transplant Surgery on Valentine's Day
