LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 6 (UPI) -- A Kentucky doctor who delivered a decapitated, premature baby told a jury he did what he thought was appropriate and "the best I could do at that time."
"In my wildest dreams, I did not expect that at all," Dr. Joseph Bilotta testified Wednesday in the civil trial in which the mother, Micheatria Donelson, is seeking more than $10 million over the 2006 incident at Norton Suburban Hospital, the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal reported
"I handled the situation as best I could," he testified.
"I tried to dislodge the head from being trapped," Bilotta said. "After several minutes ... I felt a give."
Donelson's lawyers argue Bilotta failed to remove a cerclage, a string used to keep Donelson's cervix closed and the child in the womb, the Courier-Journal reported.
The string acted "as a noose" and helped cause the decapitation when Bilotta pulled on the child, attorney Mark Mathys said.
Bilotta testified that while he initially attempted to deliver the baby with the string still in, it didn't work so he removed it.
