Indonesian woman gives birth under torchlight during magnitude 7.7 earthquake

Maria Florida Nogo Kelen gave birth by torchlight during Indonesia’s 7.7 earthquake, naming baby Gempita/Image: Reuters A 39-year-old woman gave birth by emergency caesarean section under torchlight after a magnitude-7.7 earthquake cut power to a hospital in eastern Indonesia.Maria Florida Nogo Kelen was eight months pregnant when the earthquake struck East Nusa Tenggara on Saturday. Her complicated pregnancy meant delaying the delivery could have triggered a potentially fatal seizure.Doctors performed the surgery as aftershocks continued and parts of the hospital were damaged.“During the surgery, I was not afraid,” Kelen told Reuters. “I had to be healthy for my kids.”Her obstetrician, Yona Sara Pardede, said the medical team had little choice but to proceed despite the conditions.“As humans we were afraid. The surgery was difficult as she was a small baby. I ask God, please help us. We don't even have a ventilator,” Pardede said.The baby girl was born weighing 1.3kg during the aftershocks. Her mother named her Gempita, derived from gempa, the Indonesian word for earthquake.The premature baby has remained stable in an incubator placed on grass inside a tent in Nagekeo. Kelen suffe...